


Understanding

by rainbowthefox



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated, Mystery Skulls Ghost
Genre: F/M, Fanfiction, mystery skulls - Freeform, mystery skulls animted, mystery skulls animted ghost, mystery skulls ghost - Freeform, mysteryskulls, mysteryskullsanimated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-14
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-06-07 17:43:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6817672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowthefox/pseuds/rainbowthefox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After managing to escape the mansion, Vivi is left to ponder about who the mysterious ghost was and why he seems so familiar to her. Arthur becomes worried that she will remember and that their friendship will fall apart, so he does everything he can to prevent her from remembering the incident.</p><p>Little does he know that Lewis has plans of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Knowledge was the only thing she was good at. Being able to solve simple math equations that others would find difficulty upon, clicking the pieces of real-life puzzles together, and just merely being able to know the history of each and every monster they came across for her was just a breeze. It wouldn't take a genius to know why everyone in the group always turned to her when they encountered a problem. She'd be the one to solve it, of course. And what made her wits truly remarkable was that she was able to solve everything that came into her way.

But why couldn't she solve this?

Vivi felt like banging her head repeatedly on the table as she continued to stare at her notes, which was mainly consisted of rushed scribbles and multiple doodles. She took a bite out of her doughnut, eyes transfixed on the paper as she continued to gather everything she had written down. She remembered grabbing her notebook the moment they had left that mansion a week ago and had written everything she remembered encountering. It was too bad that her hands didn't work as fast as her mind did.

Arthur picked at his breakfast, bored out of his mind. He had been rather quiet ever since the mansion incident, and it wasn't a surprise as to why he wasn't talking right now. Vivi didn't depend on his take of it anymore, anyway. Mystery had to be left outside because of the restrictions of animals inside the building. It didn't matter, though, because his collar was connected to a chain that was held by the side of a rail.

She then glanced at a doodle she made of the ghost that had chased them back at the mansion. For some reason, he seemed to resemble someone she knew. Who he resembled was something she couldn't remember. But how can that be? She didn't know many people, besides of all the monsters and ghosts they had encountered in the past and of the acquaintances she had made by then. But the way his hair was styled and of the heart he had really drew in some recognizable traits...

"Vivi, are you done yet?" Arthur asked, dropping his fork on the plate in front of him. "We've been here for half an hour. You'd be, like, done by now, right?"

"And you still haven't finished your food," She commented as she motioned towards the plate full of eggs in front of him that remained untouched.

"Well, neither have you." Arthur crossed his arms, giving his friend a look. She merely shrugged.

"I'm working on it. Right now, I'm focusing on trying to figure out who that ghost was."

"Vivi, drop it," Arthur stated in a flat tone. "I doubt we'll be going back there anytime soon, and if you can't recognize him now, then you never will."

"Arthur, through all the investigations we ran, we ALWAYS knew who was the supposed 'ghost' or 'monster'," Vivi commented, using finger quotations. "What if this 'ghost' is just someone under a mask like the others!?"

"What would it matter to you?" Arthur asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Because!" Vivi exclaimed before slumping in her seat. "I...I always know the reason behind things."

Arthur arched one of his eyebrows, giving her a look. Vivi ignored this as she shook her head, taking another bite of her doughnut.

"Vivi, you don't HAVE to know EVERYTHING," Arthur commented in a quiet tone. "Just because you don't know something doesn't mean you're stupid."

"Yeah, and not knowing something leads to ignorance, which is the last thing I need," Vivi rolled her eyes, shrugging. "But I really want to know why that ghost chased us. And why...he didn't attack me."

Arthur stared at her for a few moments before going back to picking at his eggs. Vivi sighed in irritation, knowing that her friend would remain like that for the rest of their breakfast. This, clearly, wouldn't lead anywhere, and she knew she wouldn't go far researching the same page of notes over and over again by herself.

"Arthur?" She asked.

He glanced up at her, but remained silent.

"Do you know something about the ghost?" She asked, making sure her words were visibly heard. Arthur didn't respond, but made eye contact with her for a few seconds. He broke it afterwards by glancing down back at his eggs, looking a bit hesitant.

"I know you know something," She commented as she observed him pick at his eggs a bit more. "It's easy to tell when someone's keeping something from you, you know."

Arthur's eyes darted up to hers, but quickly went back to the eggs as he cleared his throat. He didn't say anything, and Vivi groaned.

"Fine, then. Don't tell me. But don't be surprised if you end up paying the bill."

Normally, Arthur would reject to having to pay for a meal that she suggested for them in the first place, but he had complied as he then took the receipt, looking it over. Vivi's eyes narrowed as she watched him do so.

She was sure that she'd get him to talk. Eventually.

\--

When they made their way back to the van, Vivi made sure to slam her car door shut once they had came in. Arthur cringed a bit at the loud noise, but didn't say anything as he turned on the ignition. Mystery sat between them, looking at the humans beside him with uncertainty. Vivi had her arms crossed while Arthur placed his hands on the steering wheel, looking both uncertain and tense as his eyes focused on the road.

The dog exhaled out of his nose as he curled up into a ball and closed his eyes. It would be a long way home.

\--

Arthur stopped the van in front of Vivi's house, and the female had stepped out of the van in silence. She made sure to slam the door once more, and Arthur had jumped a bit. She ignored this as she clutched her notebook in her arms, stepping onto the trail to her house in silence without even saying a "goodbye".

Arthur frowned before starting the van back up and driving away. Mystery watched Vivi step onto her porch until they took a turn, immediately blocking his sight of the house. The dog then turned his head at Arthur, whom was too busy focusing on the road to notice.

The dog then went back to his position before and closed his eyes. It was currently nighttime, and their day hadn't been the brightest. Vivi and Arthur remained in conflict for most of the day and seemed to refuse to talk to each other. The dog ended up being in an uncertain spot between them, which was a rather new feeling for him because he was always connected to his owners whenever they were together. All 4-

Well, all 2 of them.

But the connection was lost ever since they stumbled upon that mansion. The dog dug his head deeper into the seat in silence. Why couldn't Arthur tell Vivi what had happened!? She was clearly suffering from memory loss, but that was because of Lewis' action on erasing the incident from her memory. But why would Lewis want for her to remember if he had intended for her to forget it in the first place? And why couldn't she catch onto it, either? Clearly, if she were trying to remember the gang's past, she'd remember him and of the mess they had to go through!

The dog shook his head at his thoughts. All of those would be answered. Eventually.

\--

"I-I mean, it's not like I WANT to tell her, but I know I'm going to have to! If she remembers what happened, then she'll, like, KILL me!"

Mystery blinked as he continued walking beside Arthur to their house, giving his master an uncertain look. What was he ranting on about now?

"I liked her before Lewis did, so if she just fell in love with me, she wouldn't be so heartbroken about his loss! And then it wouldn't be, like, a big deal, right? But, NOO, she just HAD to go and like him!"

Mystery felt his eyelids drop as they then entered the house. Arthur shut the door behind them and had turned on the lights, which had illuminated the kitchen and of the living room. Mystery hopped on his doggy bed and curled into a ball before resting his head, watching as his master paced around in the kitchen.

"And why couldn't Lewis like HER instead of Vivi!?" Arthur exclaimed, narrowing his eyes. "She was head-over-heels for him, so why couldn't he be crazy over her? They would've been a perfect match! A-And Vivi and I would be, too! That's, like, how it should be, right!?"

He then turned to Mystery, whom had given him a blank look before turning his head in a different direction, uninterested.

"Oh, c'mon, Mystery," Arthur rolled his eyes. "Can you just, like, help me out here? I don't want to remind Vivi of her heart being broken, but I don't want to get rejected, either! It'll split the gang apart!"

Mystery turned his head to his master, giving him a knowing look.

"W-Well, it'd split us apart, and not the gang, per se, because, well, technically, we've already parted..."

He shook his head.

"Never mind. But what's important is that Vivi shouldn't remember about Lewis' death. She'll KILL me if she figured out I pushed him off that cliff...But it wasn't my fault! You know that, right, Mystery?"

The dog's eyes widened as he looked at his master, whom had been giving him an uncertain look. The dog nodded his head, which had got Arthur to exhale in relief. Mystery then looked to the ground, feeling a bit guilty on the situation.

Arthur continued to ramble for the rest of the night, and the dog barely got any rest. But it was only a matter of time before Arthur remembered that his job was tomorrow morning, and had immediately gone into getting to bed. That took awhile, but it wasn't long until the house was silent for the rest of the night.

And, as Mystery started into darkness, he felt a chill run up his spine. The dog shivered as he looked around the room in confusion. Did the air conditioner turn on?

But the dog froze as his eyes locked with pink ones.

Lewis.


	2. Chapter 2

Mystery narrowed his eyes as he growled at the ghost. The dog lowered his head and rose the lower portion of his body upwards, looking as if he were a tiger about to attack its prey. Lewis just merely stared at the dog, completely unaffected.

Mystery wasn't used to feeling the urge to attack Lewis. After all, he was one of his previous owners. He still would be if it weren't for the incident, even. But, for some reason, the deathly atmosphere Lewis gave off gave the dog a feeling that would arise within his stomach. A rather warm feeling that would spread to his chest and to the rest of his body.

A feeling he did not like.

"Oh, calm down, Mystery. I'm not trying to hurt YOU."

The dog tilted its head in confusion, eyes fixated on the figure before him. He didn't give out any vibrations in order to make any words. How...?

"It's called telepathy." The ghost replied, as if he read his mind. "Just an advantage you have when you're, you know, dead."

Mystery shook the confusion off as he narrowed his eyes, continuing to let out a low growl. Lewis just rolled his pink eyes.

"Growl all you would like, but that's not what I'm here for. There are more important matters to attend to than worrying about a dog."

Mystery bared his teeth as he tried to gather his thoughts. It was rather difficult for a dog to do, but he took a few seconds until he managed to think: "To kill Arthur!?"

Lewis gave the dog a look. "That'll come later. Right now, Arthur has a possession of mine that I'd like to have back."

Mystery blinked in confusion. Possession?

Before the dog could question it any further, Lewis suddenly walked through a nearby wall that led into Arthur's garage. The dog only had a few seconds to process what had happened before he ran into the direction that the garage was in, only to end up banging his head on a door that blocked him from entering it.

Mystery looked up at the door and felt a bit helpless. Oh, why couldn't he have thumbs!?

The dog ended up jumping on the door, which led him nowhere for a few minutes. He then stared to scratch it, which only resulted in having the sound echo through the house. The more the dog scratched, the more he felt the warm feeling spread through his body. It wasn't long before the dog felt himself start to bark, which was something he rarely ever did on normal occasions.

Immediately, the lights had flickered on as Arthur came running into the room. His hair was a complete mess, and there was a line of drool on the corner of his mouth. He looked around frantically before giving Mystery a worried look.

"What happened, boy? A robber? Murderer?"

Mystery shook his head before motioning to the door in front of him. Arthur gave it a hesitant look.

"N-No is behind it, right?"

Mystery only whined, placing a paw on the door. Arthur took a few steps before carefully opening it, flickering on the light inside the garage. What entered their sight was an empty room that held the van; nothing removed from its place.

Arthur gave Mystery a look.

The dog's eyes widened as he ran into the garage, sniffing every area he could. Arthur only shook his head.

"Mystery, you'd best get to sleep. And stop barking! My job starts in about 4 hours."

With that, Arthur then left the room and turned off all the lights while doing so. Mystery was still frantically sniffing around the room, trying to find Lewis. Where could he have gone!?

He then stumbled upon a box set in the corner. A few items that were once stored in it were now lying around, and it looked as if someone had rummaged through them. The dog sniffed around it before catching the deathly scent Lewis had. A growl escaped from his lips.

So Lewis did go through their stuff. But what did he take?

The dog looked back at the items, which mainly consisted of photos that were taken long ago. All of them had the whole group smiling at the photographer, and various backgrounds were in each frame. Mystery felt himself smile a bit at the memories.

The dog then turned back to the box and stared at what was inside. He caught site of something purple, and had to push past some things with his paw before he realized what it was.

Lewis' shirt.

The dog dug deeper, only to find more of Lewis' outfit stuffed at the bottom. What was on top of it was some of his personal belongings, including some certain photos of him and Vivi that they had taken awhile back. There were also some things that Mystery hadn't seen before that he assumed was Lewis'.

The dog tilted his head in confusion. Why did Arthur have all of his stuff?

\--

Vivi stared into the mirror placed in front of her as she slid her headband back against her head. She felt herself watch as it stuck into place, and she brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. It didn't last long, though, as they continued to fall on her forehead, barely managing to lean to the right so they weren't blocking her eyes. She felt herself slump in her chair in defeat. All morning she had been trying to style her blue hair a different way, but it didn't seem to comply to what she had in mind.

A sudden honking noise made her jump, and she whipped around towards her window. From afar, she could see Arthur's van parked in front of her house. He was currently in the driver's seat, waving to her. She felt a grin come on her face as she waved back, motioning for him to wait for a second.

She then ran back to her bed and grabbed her notebook filled with notes. She grabbed her pencil and a stack of papers that she had stapled that morning. She then ran out of her room, bid her parents goodbye, and quickly jogged over to the van. Once she was there, she then opened the door and slid into the passenger's seat, closing it beside her.

Once she managed to get situated, Arthur had then started to drive back onto the road. Vivi organized all the things she had before setting them aside, glancing at her friend and his dog.

She commented, "You were a lot earlier than I suspected, Arthur. Did you get off early?"

He sighed. "Yeah, but that was because the boss gave me a complicated shift. I was working all day, and I kind of put some stress on my arm because of it."

"Really?" Vivi asked before suddenly grabbing his left arm. Arthur nearly swerved off the road at this, but had managed to hold the van steady. He then turned to his friend, giving her a look as if she were mad.

"Oh, Arthur," She frowned as she looked at him, completely forgetting that they nearly crashed. "You really shouldn't put a lot of stress on it like that. Most of the bolts are loose."

With that, she then grabbed one of her tools that she kept in her pocket and had started to work on his arm, completely forgetting about Arthur driving with one hand. But, as soon as she managed to repair it, she then had let go, letting him return to driving safely.

"Thanks," He said as he glanced at her, eyes quickly darting back to the road. Vivi shrugged.

"It's no problem. But you really need to confront your boss about this. Your disability should be kept in mind when putting you to work. From the rate you're at, it'll fall off in no time. And it's kind of expensive to replace parts, you know."

"I know, I know," Arthur groaned. "But what can I do? I barely managed to get this job, and it's the only thing I'm depending on right now. Well, besides this. But, in all honesty, I don't think I'll be able to rely on our solving for very long because we hadn't really broken any extreme cases ever since..."

Arthur's eyes widened, and he had immediately shut his jaw. Vivi gave him a look.

"Ever since...what?"

"Ever since..."

He quickly glanced at Mystery, who gave him a look in return. Arthur then turned back to Vivi, who was clearly confused by then.

"Ever since...I lost my arm!" He suddenly exclaimed, a sheepish smile crawling onto his face. "Yeah, I think we lost a lot of the work ever since that accident."

"Work?" Vivi asked, scrunching up her nose. "I don't think we did a lot of work before involving your arm. At least physically. I mean, we've came to situations were we had to move heavy things, but I don't think you were in charge of that. But that's weird because I wasn't, either..."

Both Arthur and Mystery exchanged worried looks. Arthur quickly turned back to the road, clearing his throat as casually as he could.

"Yeah, well, strength is something that will help solve the extreme cases. I mean, what if there's a group of people that went missing and ended up in a cell that was blocked out by an enormous rock covering it? Surely you'd need someone big and tough to remove it and save their lives, wouldn't you?"

"I suppose you would," Vivi nodded. Her eyes then traveled to the ground. "But...you said we solved extreme cases before you broke your arm. And, as far as I know, you weren't in charge of doing it by then. What I'm a little stuck on is who was, though."

"Guess we just pulled through it," Arthur shrugged. "I mean, we've always gotten out of tight situations before. And most of them was through your thinking, Vivi. After all, smarts beat strength, right?"

"Right..." Vivi nodded, sounding a bit unsure. She quickly shrugged this off afterwards as she said, "You know, Arthur, I'm sorry about yesterday. I guess I was just a little mad because I was refusing to be clueless about something. And I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"I-It's alright," Arthur nodded. "I'm sorry, too. I've just been a little...fazed ever since that mansion. I mean, we nearly got killed. That's kind of hard to walk away from, you know?"

Vivi giggled. "Yeah, I know."

They drove in silence for several minutes. It was until they reached a red light was for when Arthur spoke.

"So, Vivi....You wanted to go to the mall. And I'm not judging you here or anything, but why the mall? It's never been a place you aksed to go before."

"Oh! I nearly forgot we were going there!" She gave him a nervous smile. "I just need a few books that's available in one of the stores."

"Books? Couldn't you have gone to the library?"

"I could, but I want to keep these specific ones," She shrugged.

"Really?" Arthur's eyes widened. "What are they about?"

"They're about....Well..."

Vivi broke eye contact with her friend as she stared out at the window, as if gathering her words. She said, "They're somewhat about the ghost we ran into at that mansion. They're focused on the past of haunted mansions and of the sightings of ghosts within them. At least one of them is. The other is just an informational book focused on ghosts. Nothing big."

Arthur groaned. "Vivi, I told you stop worrying about that ghost. Why are you still researching on him?"

"Because!" Vivi exclaimed. "I just feel like...I need to, is all."

"What would make you feel THAT?" He scoffed, leaning a bit on the wheel.

"I don't know. But, for some reason, something's driving me to do all the research I can on him. It kind of feels like I'm familiar with him and that I'm seeming to forget something..."

"Trust me, you aren't." Arthur said as he gritted his teeth, obviously annoyed. Vivi placed her hands on her hip, narrowing her eyes at him.

"And what makes you so sure!? You, OBVIOUSLY, know something about him that I don't! Why don't you just spill it already!?"

"Vivi," Arthur gave her a look. "I don't want to argue with you, alright? I just want all this anger between us to stop. And the only way for that to happen is if you stop researching about that ghost we stumbled upon at that mansion. Okay?"

"I'm not stopping my research, Arthur," Vivi said as she crossed her arms, looking out the window. "Not until I find out what's so special about him."

Arthur sighed, looking as if he wanted to bang his head on the steering wheel over and over again. Mystery gave his master a concerned look, clearly worried for him. But Arthur didn't glance in his direction as he pulled into the parking lot, stopping in an available spot.

\--

"Did you get everything?" Arthur asked as he watched Vivi approach the table he was at. She nodded before putting her plastic bag on the table, sitting on the chair across from him. She grabbed her phone out from her handbag and had started to go through it, not even glancing in his direction. He watched her for a few moments before sighing.

"Look, Vivi-"

"-You're sorry, I know," She interrupted as she glanced up at him. "I am, too, Arthur."

"And that's just it," He threw his arms in the air. "We apologize to each other one moment, but, in the next, we're fighting again! I really want it to stop..."

"Well, I do, too, but you always insist on yelling at me whenever I just want to research on that ghost," She commented, setting her phone down on the table. "Just what is your problem with him, Arthur!?"

"It's more like the problem he has with ME..." He muttered.

"What was that?"

"I just don't think you should research on him."

"And why not!?" Vivi exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips. Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but ended up closing it as his eyes traveled to the ground.

"I-I can't say..."

Vivi shook her head before grabbing her phone off from the table and going through it. Arthur bit his lip as he watched her. Clearly, things between them wouldn't clear up until he told her about Lewis.

But how could he do that!? If he did tell her, then she'll get angry at him for killing her boyfriend! But, on the other hand, things would clear up and she'd finally be able to remember everything...And then she could happy because she wouldn't be frustrated on trying to remember. But, then again, Lewis might just kill him and she might be heartbroken to remember that he IS dead...

Arthur stared at the table. What could he do? Remain silent and watch Vivi try to figure out for herself all the while getting into multiple heating arguments with her, or telling Vivi and risking his life and friendship with her for killing Lewis?

The best solution would to not tell her, but if she figured it out on her own, she'd hate him even more for not being honest with her. And THAT would screw things up more. Arthur felt like banging his head on the table repeatedly. Why couldn't Vivi just focus on other things instead of this!? An idea suddenly came into mind. He turned to his friend as he asked, "Vivi?"

"Yeah...?" She asked, a little confused by his sudden mood change.

"You want to, like, go investigating tomorrow? I heard that some old dude nearby the lake on the other end of town claimed to see ghosts. Would you like to take the case?"

"Uh, I don't know," She shrugged as she looked at the table with uncertainty. "I do have a lot of work to do..."

Arthur's smile immediately faded into a frown as he looked at the table. "Oh..."

She stared at him for a few moments before shaking her head. "You know what? Never mind. I'll go."

"Really?" Arthur asked, eyes widened. "But I thought-"

"I can do it on the ride there. But let's just go."

"Alright," He said, flashing her a smile. "I think that it'll lighten things up a bit. I also heard the lake looks really spooky at night, so you SHOULD enjoy it there."

"Really?" Vivi asked, immediately intrigued. "If you told me that, then I wouldn't have declined at first!"

Her smile then faded into a frown as she said, "But...doesn't it bother you that we're going to a spooky lake? I mean, you don't really enjoy going to those kinds of places..."

"For you, Vivi, I think I can handle it," Arthur shrugged. "Besides, I think the lake can't even compare to what we had experienced at the mansion. It should be a lot more peaceful there."

Vivi scoffed. "Yeah, unless there's a ghost like the one we had to face. Or if he decides to follow you on the way there."

Arthur felt himself gulp. "F-Follow me? Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, he just seemed more onto chasing you than me and Mystery," Vivi shrugged. "But I'm just kidding. I doubt that the ghost would find all the trouble to come and follow us personally."

Arthur gave her a fake laugh. "Haha! Right! You got me a bit nervous there for a second..."

Vivi giggled and just shook her head before turning back to her phone, a smile placed on her face. Arthur felt himself grin at seeing his friend smile again.

Boy, did he miss it.


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur felt himself shiver as another chill ran up his spine. He rolled the window beside him up, immediately blocking the cold, night air from entering the van. Vivi casually flipped a page in her book, appearing to be immune to the temperature change. Arthur felt himself envy her wisdom on bringing a scarf everywhere she went. Maybe he should start doing that...

"Arthur, are we there yet?" She suddenly asked as she glanced up from her book, adjusting her glasses. "We should be there by now."

"Almost," Arthur replied, ignoring the goose bumps that came onto his arm. He felt another chill run up his back, and he felt his shoulders rise at the feeling. He grit his teeth before glancing back at him for a split second before bringing his attention back on the road.

What the hell was making him so cold!?

Mystery stretched as he yawned, appearing to have woken up from his nap that he took for about 86% of the ride. Vivi started to pet the dog, immediately getting him to nuzzle up beside her. She giggled before scratching behind his ear, immediately getting the dog to wag his tail.

"You know, Arthur," She said as she glanced at her friend, removing her hand from the dog. "I'm really glad I came with you guys tonight. I hadn't felt this relaxed in awhile."

"Yeah, me either," Arthur shrugged. "But it's kind of nice, you know? Actually going out and doing something you like..."

Vivi nodded. "Yeah. I wish everyday could be like this."

"It could," Arthur shrugged. "If only we made enough money out of this. Then it'd become a job."

"Well, why don't we do that?" Vivi asked a grin came to her face. "We should start on all the difficult cases! We can certainly manage it, right?"

Arthur frowned. "I don't know, V....Like I said the other day, it's been awhile since we managed to crack one of those."

"I don't think your arm will get in the way, though," Vivi gave him a look. "If we just use our heads together, we should be able to solve it, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

Arthur was suddenly interrupted by Mystery starting to whine. The dog started to move around a lot and turned to his owners, worried spread on his face. Both Arthur and Vivi blinked in confusion.

"What's wrong, boy?" Vivi asked, giving Mystery a strange look. The dog simply whined some more, giving her a look she couldn't recognize.

"Maybe he has to go to the bathroom," Arthur suggested. "It's been awhile since we made a pit stop."

"Oh," Vivi nodded before turning back to Mystery. "Do you have to go to the bathroom?"

Mystery shook his head before whining some more, turning to Arthur. He glanced at him, but kept his eyes focused on the road.

"D-Do you want a snack?"

The dog shook his head before placing his paws on the seat, looking at the back of the van. He started to whine as he turned to Arthur and back to the other part of the vehicle, as if motioning to it. Arthur groaned.

"Vivi, can you check back there? I'm driving."

The female nodded before looking behind her seat, only to see the equipment stored in the van that they would use during their investigating. She looked around a bit before turning to Mystery, whom had whined in return as he continued to motion in the same area. Vivi sighed.

"Arthur, can you pull over real quick? Maybe there's something in the back of the van."

"On it," Arthur replied as he continued to drive, looking for an area he could pull over in. It took a few seconds until he managed to move the van to the side of the road, and he gave Vivi a nod. She returned it before unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out of the car, moving to the back of the vehicle. She opened the back door before looking around, rummaging through some of the stuff they packed. She did this for a few moments until shutting the doors and returning back into her seat, closing the door beside her.

Arthur glanced at her, and she only shook her head. He then turned to Mystery, whom was still whining and fidgeting. He asked, "What's the matter, Mystery?"

Mystery opened his mouth, but closed it as he just whined, looking around frantically. Arthur sighed before pulling back on the road in silence. Vivi gave Mystery a worried look.

"Has he ever acted like this before, Arthur?"

"No," He shook his head. "It's weird. Last night he was barking at the garage door, but nothing was in there."

"Odd," Vivi placed a finger on her chin in thought. She then looked at Mystery, whom was still looking in the back of the van.

"Maybe it's just the feeling of the new equipment," She shrugged as she leaned back in her seat. "Mystery always acted strange in the past whenever we brought out something new."

Arthur shrugged. "Maybe."

"Hey, Arthur, can you pull over to the rest area over there? I need to use the restroom."

Arthur nodded before turning the wheel so the vehicle moved to their left, pulling into the rest area. Arthur pulled into an available spot in the corner and nodded at Vivi. She returned it and reached for the door handle until Mystery started to whine and placed his paw on her back. She whipped around in surprise.

"Oh! Mystery!" She laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. "I suppose you want to come?"

Mystery whined before turning to Arthur, motioning over to Vivi. Arthur blinked in confusion.

"You...need to go, too?"

Mystery blinked in confusion before suddenly nodding with a smile. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Alright, I'll take you."

Vivi then stepped out of the van as Mystery followed her, wagging his tail repeatedly. Arthur stepped out as well, making sure to lock the car while he was at it. The dog barked happily as he led them over to the restrooms in silence, a smile spread onto his lips.

\--

DAMN IT!

Lewis felt banging his skull on the back of the seat repeatedly. How the hell could he have lost his chance!?

The skeleton groaned as he watched Arthur from afar, whom was, currently, following Mystery as the dog sniffed the ground. He knew he should've strangled the idiot when he had the chance. And why didn't he!? It would've been easy, quick, and done.

But, NOO, he just HAD to bring the dog, didn't he!?

Honestly, the only thing he managed to accomplish was remaining hidden to the idiot and Vivi by using his powers. It made him a bit tired, having to hide from the three using his invisibility, but what other choice did he have? That dog would've blew his cover from the start!

Lewis tapped his gloved fingers against the headrest of Arthur's seat in silence. He figured that the best way to kill Arthur would be by following him and waiting for the opportunity that the idiot was alone so he could make his move. But, with that dog and Vivi by the side, how could he manage THAT?

Lewis' eyes widened as he saw Vivi come out of the restroom and approach Arthur. They seemed to talk for a bit before suddenly walking back to the van, Mystery following behind. The ghost then levitated through the van and sat on top of the vehicle, going in his invisible form as he watched the three figures make their way over. Vivi was the first to approach it.

"Look, all I'm saying is that, if there ARE ghosts haunting the lake, then they'll, most likely, just be some people under a mask. Simple!"

"Oh, come on, V. Not every ghost we come across is going to be fake."

"And how do you know, Arthur? Have you caught a real ghost before?"

"N-No, but I'm just saying...What if s-some actually died and is really a ghost? And they just so happened to be spotted by someone?"

"Then call me when you find them."

Lewis watched as Vivi stepped into the unlocked car with Mystery behind her. The dog glanced up in his direction, and he, immediately, scooted back so he was on the edge of the car. The dog stared a bit before jumping inside the van, Vivi shutting the door behind them.

Lewis mentally sighed as he then scooted so he was back in the center on the roof. It took a few minutes until Arthur managed to start the van and had backed up out of the parking space. Lewis had to hold on to the side so he wouldn't fall off, and the car sped off back to the road.


	4. Chapter 4

"YAY! WE'RE HERE!"

Arthur cringed at Vivi's sudden exclamation as he rubbed his ringing ear. Mystery gave the woman a look as if she were mad, and she simply ignored it as she stared out the window to admire their surroundings. Arthur shook this off as he then turned the van into the entrance of the lake. What entered their sight was of a locked gate blocking their path. He turned to her.

"Vivi, you got the key, right?"

Vivi nodded as she rummaged through her handbag, only to end up spending about 2 or 3 minutes looking through it. When she did manage to find the key, she stepped out of the van as she used the it to unlock the gate, opening it so Arthur could come through. He gave her a nod before pulling in, parking somewhere in the empty lot.

Vivi locked the gates back up as she made sure to stuff the key back in her bag, jogging over to the van in excitement. She eyed her surroundings and ended up stopping just to look around.

It was quite late into the night and it just happened to have a beautiful full moon shining in the starry sky. The weather was colder than before, and fog could be seen on most of the ground of the lake. The ground was moist and multiple puddles were seen on the asphalt of the parking lot. Vivi could hear her footsteps echo from the miniature puddles she stepped in as she made her way to the van, still eying her surroundings with a smile.

Arthur turned off the ignition as he stepped out of the van, his own footsteps echoing from the puddles he stepped in. He looked at the ground in disgust before moaning.

"Why did I have to wear my new socks!?"

Vivi rolled her eyes. "Because you didn't plan very well. First you're missing a jacket and now you're ruining your socks. Arthur, I thought you said you were ready for this!"

"I didn't think there wouldn't be fog everywhere!" Arthur exclaimed as he motioned to their surroundings.

Vivi sighed, shaking her head. "Arthur, you're going to freeze to death. Take one of the jackets stuffed behind the driver's seat."

"Wait...we have jackets in there?" Arthur said, arching an eyebrow at her. She gave him a look.

"Well, yeah. Did you not know that?"

Arthur gave her a confused look, but just shook it off as he made his way back to the van. Opening the car door, he then looked behind his seat, reaching into the stuff held in the bag behind it. He felt a piece of clothing, and had pulled it out, only for his eyes to widen in surprise.

The jacket was larger than Arthur, but still looked very fitting to someone who was the specific size for it. Someone with broad shoulders would fit into it very well. The pockets were quite low, and the size seemed to be in a male's. But what threw Arthur off was the color of the jacket, with it having a specific tone of purple.

He felt himself sweat nervously.

This was Lewis' old jacket.

"Hey, Arthur! Did you get it yet?" Vivi asked from behind him, peeking into the van. Arthur snapped back into reality as he turned, giving the female a sheepish smile as he hid the jacket behind him.

"T-Turns out there wasn't one, V." He lied, stuttering.

She gave him a look. "Really? I could've sworn that there was at least one in there."

"Well, there isn't," Arthur said as he quickly threw the jacket aside as subtle as he could, stepping out of the van. "Guess I'm just going to have to freeze, right?"

"Guess you're going to have to use your own jacket," The female responded as she put her hands on her hip. "And by using, I mean actually zipping it up and using it like a real one."

"What!?" Arthur exclaimed. "Oh, c'mon, V! This was the trend back in high school! I simply can't drop it!"

Vivi narrowed her eyes, and Arthur ended up rolling his own as he exhaled, zipping the jacket up and pulling his sleeves down so they fell onto his wrists. This got his friend to smile.

"Thanks, Arthur."

He nodded, but frowned as he tugged at the long sleeves. Mystery gave his master a nudge, telling him to suck it up. Arthur simply groaned.

"Alright," Vivi commented as she took a notepad out from her bag. "We're going to have to map where we're going to head out first and where we should place some of the equipment. I don't know whether or not to film tonight, since I doubt we're going to get any ghosts..."

Arthur sighed in relief. Vivi simply tapped her pencil on her chin in thought. After a few seconds, she started to map down where they were headed and of where the machines could go.

Vivi turned to her friend, eyes still focused on the notepad. "I know I haven't said this before, Arthur, but..."

"But what?" He asked, tilting his head.

"We're going to have to split up."

"W-What!?" Arthur stuttered, giving her a look as if she were mad.

Vivi gave him a look. "I said we're going to have to split up. The lake's really big, so exploring it as a group would take too much time. And I don't know about you, but it's pretty late as it is..."

"A-Alright," Arthur nodded, eyes widened in fear. "W-Who's going with who, though?"

"Arthur, you're stuttering a lot. Are you sure you're not cold?" Vivi asked, tilting her head in confusion. Arthur simply shook his head.

"I-I'm fine, V. Just...a little scared, is all."

"Well, we'll get through it," Vivi said as she gave him a reassuring smile. "Right?"

"Right," Arthur nodded, trying to hide the frown coming onto his face. Vivi turned back to her notes.

"Alright, in order to have my plan carried through properly, I'll have to go with Mystery southeast so we can check the store and of the area over there. You'll have to go investigate the restrooms and the campsite, which is northwest. Got it?"

"You want me to go WAY over there?" Arthur asked, eyes widened as he pointed to the foggiest and darkest side of the lake. "Alone?"

"Yeah. You're so lucky that it's spooky!" Vivi said as she bit her lip, taking in the area he had to investigate in. "I kind of want to trade places."

"Please do."

"Oh, suck it up, Arthur!" Vivi lightly punched his arm. "If I can stand a spooky place, then you can, too!"

Arthur frowned, but nodded, nonetheless. Vivi gave him a grin before going over to the van and taking out the equipment and setting it up. Arthur helped her, biting his lip during the entire process.

\--

Once they were done gathering the equipment(which took awhile because they had some difficulties), they then went out together to set them up, leaving the van alone in silence.

This, sadly, also left someone else to sit alone in silence.

Lewis groaned in boredom as he leaned on the edge of the van, watching as Vivi's figure disappeared within the fog. He knew he watched her leave a bit longer than he intended to do, but...God, did he miss her.

He was actually starting to regret focusing on Arthur more than he did to Vivi. His death affected her the most, after all, so her life must've dramatically changed ever since the incident. Arthur seems to be the same scumbag as he was years ago, but Vivi seemed....different.

He had to admit, back at the mansion, he really couldn't tell by then. Just the bare sight of seeing her in front of him and...so clueless just gave his heart away. If only she had the chance to take it...

He narrowed his eye sockets at the memory. If it weren't for that fucking idiot, she could've had a head-start to remembering him. But, NOO, that loser just had to have her all for himself, didn't he!?

Lewis felt the flame start to ignite on his skull, and he closed his eye sockets, hoping to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted was for that dog to spot him again. He simply couldn't have that.

But, still....He wished he could thank Vivi personally for making his plans easier for him. It was too bad he couldn't, though. At least not yet. Having the idiot by himself really will boosted his chances on killing him. After all, the setting was perfect. A lake in the middle of the night with fog everywhere...

It was almost as if he were asking for it, really.

A sudden voice snapped him back into reality, and Lewis went back into his invisible form as he scooted backwards on the vehicle. He watched as Vivi walked back to the van with Arthur, whom was shaking within each step he took. Mystery followed behind them, appearing to not really be affected.

"-For the last time, Arthur! It's only for one night!"

"V-V, I can't. N-Not in this place."

"And why not!? You managed to get through that mansion last week, which is probably scarier than this one!"

"I know V, it's just..."

Arthur sighed before leaning on the van. Lewis gripped the side of it in surprise, having almost fallen off of it.

"I'm still feeling shaken by that mansion, y'know? And exploring a place like this isn't really going to help with it..."

Vivi frowned. "Arthur, can you please just do this?"

She then clamped her hands together before looking at him with the same puppy eyes Mystery made when wanting a treat. She asked, "For me?"

Arthur stared at her for a few moments before shaking his head. "Fine. But I'm doing this for you, Vivi."

The female smiled as she then hugged her friend, whose eyes widened in surprise. He paused before hugging her back, a smile formed on his lips. They remained like that for a few seconds until Vivi pulled away, tugging a bit on her scarf.

"Alright! Then I guess we start, eh?"

"R-Right," Arthur nodded, giving her a sheepish smile. She nodded.

"We'll meet back here at...oh, 11:45? Somewhere around that?"

"Got it," He nodded. Vivi smiled before walking southeast. She motioned for Mystery to follow, whom, after glancing at Arthur a few times, complied. The teen watched as their figured disappeared within the fog, and sighed.

It was going to be a long night.


	5. Chapter 5

Vivi blinked as she looked in their surroundings, clicking her flashlight on as she shined it around her. The walls seemed empty, but the room was filled with multiple shelves that consisted of several snacks and foods. The store wasn't that big, and she felt a little cramped having to stand with Mystery inside.

She felt herself clack her tongue as she looked around, stepping around in the aisles and observing everything. One of the complaints related with the sightings was that people would tend to claim to see items flying across the room or of shadows spotted within the aisles. A lot of things came into Vivi's mind as to why they could be debunked or proven false, but she just shook her head as she continued looking around.

Mystery sniffed the ground as he looked around for himself, appearing to be around the freezer aisles. The dog hadn't been acting strangely ever since they left the van, and Vivi was starting to get the impression that they weren't near any ghosts at all. If so, then they'd be wasting time searching through a miniature supermarket.

Vivi, after several moments of looking around, ended up sighing. "Come on, Mystery. We'd best search the rest of the area than in here."

Mystery perked his head up from the aisle and walked over to the female, whom had placed one of the devices on the counter after turning it on. She motioned for the dog to follow after her out the door, whom had complied as he trotted behind her. Vivi closed the store's doors and clutched at her scarf, shivering at the increase of the cold weather.

"Geez, did it just drop down 20 degrees?" Vivi asked as she looked at one of her devices, eyes widened. "Guess they don't call it the 'Frozen lake' for nothing, huh?"

Mystery simply blinked before tilting his head. Coated with fur, he didn't even notice the weather decrease. Vivi shook her head.

"Ah, well. Arthur must be having it worse. His jacket isn't the warmest..."

She placed a finger to her chin in thought. "You know, thinking back on it, he really acted strange. I mean, I can understanding the stuttering...It is pretty cold out, but it's like he's trying to hide something..."

She turned to Mystery. "Would you know anything about it, boy?"

Mystery blinked a few moments before opening his jaw, as if about to say something, but closed it as he looked to the ground. Vivi sighed.

"Oh, right. You're a dog. Can't really speak, huh?"

Mystery whined, brushing up against her as he gave her a worried look. Vivi gave him a smile before patting his head.

"Don't worry. As soon as we solve this case, I'm going to ask him about it. Maybe he's just not feeling well."

She then walked down the stairs before flicking her flashlight back on, shining it in the areas around them. Each of her footsteps echoed from all the puddles she stepped in, and Mystery eyed their surroundings carefully. Vivi noticed this and shrugged. He always was an observant dog.

\--

"O-Okay, this shouldn't be too bad. A few steps to the right should lead me towards the restrooms and the campsite should be farther down. R-Right."

Arthur's hands shook as he stared at the map clutched in his hands. He felt sweat roll down from his forehead, and his whole body shook. He felt his teeth chatter as he glanced up from the map, only to see a tree standing in his path. Walking past it, he then eyed his surroundings with hesitation.

Why did everything have to be so dark!?

Oh, right. The flashlight.

Arthur reached into his back pocket and took it out, clicking it on and shining it around him. What entered his sight was of multiple dead trees and of insects he couldn't recognize. He felt himself sped up a bit, trying to avoid to step on anything he would regret.

He walked for a few minutes until he saw a building. He jogged towards it, only to realize that it was the restrooms. He felt himself grin and do a little victory dance in not ending up lost just like all the other mysteries he had taken part in back in the past.

He shoved the map into his pocket as he then took out a sheet of paper Vivi had handed to him earlier back in the van. It seemed that the complaints listed in the restroom was of stall doors opening and closing repeatedly and of disturbing figures spotted within the mirrors.

Arthur felt himself gulp before glancing back up at the restrooms, which stood where it was. He dug into his pocket until he managed to find a key, and had used it to unlock the men's restrooms first.

Since the power was disabled, Arthur was left with only the help of his flashlight to be able to look around. Which was actually a bad thing because having to navigate in a dark, closed area with a mirror wasn't the best thing to face at that moment.

"Thank God it's at least warm in here," Arthur said to nobody as he shined his flashlight around, looking in the stalls. The toilets weren't well-cleaned, and it smelled absolutely disgusting. Nothing really surprising to note in a restroom, though.

He then shined it at the mirror, only to see his reflection staring back at him. He looked away before glancing back at it, only to see the left side of his body green and of a crooked smile placed on his face.

He screamed as he dropped his flashlight, turning away from the mirror and running forward. He ended up slamming into the wall and fell to the ground, his air suddenly lifted out from his lungs.

He, immediately, got off of the floor and dusted himself off before grabbing the flashlight and shining it at the mirror, ignoring his shaky hands. His normal reflection blinked back at him, a surprised expression placed on its face. Arthur felt himself sigh.

Maybe it was just his imagination.

He felt a smile tug onto his lips in relief before turning around, looking at the rest of the bathroom. There were a few windows placed around the top of the ceiling, and he stared at them for a few moments. He then turned to go into the handicapped stall until-

CRASH!

Arthur let out a girlish scream as he threw his flashlight up in surprise. It landed on the ground with a thud before suddenly turning off, and Arthur was left to stand in the darkness. He felt his body shake before screaming again, running in any direction he could. He ended up slamming into another wall, and he rubbed his forehead before standing in the corner, feeling his body shake as his eyes rapidly looked around in the darkness.

He waited a few moments in silence. He hesitated before crouching on the ground and started to feel around the area with his hands. He bit his lip as he closed his eyes, not wanting to think about what he was touching. But, after rolling around on the ground for a few moments, he managed to feel the flashlight he dropped. He exhaled through his nose in relief before grabbing it and clicking it on.

To his luck, it actually turned on. He felt his hand shake as he shined it around in the restroom, only to see his surroundings unchanged. He arched an eyebrow in confusion before turning around. What entered his sight was of a broken mirror cracked down in the middle.

But there, written in bold, pink letters, read:

"LOOK BEHIND YOU"

That did it.

Arthur let out the loudest, girlish scream he could manage before suddenly dropping his flashlight and running out of the restrooms, flailing his arms in the air. He ran for a few minutes until he managed to trip and land face-first into a batch of mud. He sat there for a few moments until lifting himself off from the ground and standing and turning around.

He could see the restrooms from afar, and he felt himself shake.

What the hell was that!?

\--

"Mystery, did you hear that?" Vivi asked as she suddenly look around. She had been examining the parts of the lake and of the parking lot before she could've sworn she heard a yell.

Mystery looked up from sniffing the ground and to her, tilting his head in confusion. Vivi blinked in surprise.

"You didn't hear it?" She asked, eyes widened. Mystery shrugged.

"That's odd," Vivi commented as she stood. "Your ears should've caught onto it. I know I probably am just imagining things, but it sounded like it came from Arthur's direction."

She felt herself stare in the direction noise came from before shaking her head.

"Well, c'mon. Guess we're gonna' check it out, then."

\--

Arthur felt himself run to the campsite as fast as he could. He had to jog past the restrooms, in which he could've swore he felt someone following him by then. He could feel the cold air wrapping around his figure, and he shivered once more.

It almost felt as if someone was running behind him.

He quickly glanced behind him, only to see pink eyes lock with his. He felt his eyes widen as he let out another scream, running even faster. After several minutes of this, he felt his energy start to run low as his legs slowed down, and he felt himself panic. He quickly turned around, only to see that the person that chased him was gone. At least the chills running down his spine stopped. He couldn't really tell because it was dark.

He let out a sigh of relief as he suddenly slowed down, stopping to take a breath or two. When he glanced up, he found himself standing in the middle of darkness. He blinked until extending his arms out, trying to find out where he was. He felt his hand slam into something pointy, and he cringed.

Must've been a tree.

"Damn it," He cursed under his breath. "Knew I should've taken an extra flashlight."

He continued to make his way down, his hands trying to touch anything he can find. He ended up feeling a whole bunch of other trees, and he felt the splinters start to pile up on his hands. Despite his damaged hands, he continued feeling around just to get an idea where he was. It wasn't long before he felt himself trip over something, and his face landed in a whole bunch of wet sand.

Wait...sand?

Arthur brushed the sand off of his face as he stood, looking around in confusion. He saw a lantern sitting next to the log he tripped on. The only thing odd about it was that it was turned on.

In the middle of a closed lake. In the dark. Alone.

Sweet! Arthur grinned. He then snagged the lantern and used it to look at his surroundings. What entered his sight was of a building placed in the corner located nearby the lake. He arched an eyebrow before making his way over, minding the other logs located in his path.

Once he managed to reach the building, he tried opening the door, but found it was locked. Figures, since everything else was locked in the place. He glanced up at the building and noted its exterior design. It looked poorly painted and old, since he could see that the roof was falling apart. Even the door looked rusted and worn-down.

Arthur opened the map and observed it for a few moments. He didn't see the building located anywhere on the map, and he tilted his head in confusion before glancing back up at it in confusion.

Where the hell was he!?

He walked around it before managing to find another door located in the back. He pulled on the door handle, and, much to his surprise, the thing actually opened.

He felt a smile reach his lips as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He shined the lantern beside him and glanced to the right, only to find a light switch. Knowing the power off, he decided to flick it on and off for his own amusement.

What he didn't know was that the light would turn on, which resulted in blinding him upon turning it on. Once he adjusted to the lighting, he rubbed his eyes before looking around the building, turning the lantern off.

The place wasn't very big, but it wasn't as small or crowded as the restrooms. A large carpet was placed in the middle of the main room, and he saw a table and a counter placed across from it. There were a few shelves stuck onto the wall, which contained many fishing supplies that appeared to be for sale.

Arthur felt himself narrow his eyes in confusion, looking back at the map. Wasn't there only 1 shop in this place?

Shrugging it off, he then set the lantern on the table as he walked around, observing his surroundings. If the lights worked on in here, then the building must've worked with a different power generator. Or something.

Okay, he had no clue. Smarts was Vivi's thing.

He was about to turn to go into the other room until he saw a bucket of paint fly across the room and hit the wall next to him. He jumped as he then stepped back, watching as the liquid dripped down the wall and the bucket fall to the ground. He heard something move and he whipped his head around, only to see something sharp head towards his direction. He yelped before stepping out the way, only to see a sharp knife stick onto the wall. He felt his breath get caught in his throat as he turned his head to where the knife came from. He felt his eyes widen at the sight.

There, stood a few feet away from him, was Lewis.

And he did not look pleased.

"Miss me?" The ghost asked, crossing his arms.

Arthur felt his heartbeat quicken as he took a step back. The only word he managed to stutter was: "H-How?"

"How?" Lewis scoffed. "You're an idiot. A fucking idiot. You know that?"

Arthur felt himself shake as he watched the ghost. His heartbeat was now going about a thousand miles per hour, and he felt his palms start to get sweaty. His eyes darted over to the lantern and equipment he set down earlier, but they were far out of his reach.

Lewis caught onto this as he followed the teen's eyes, only to see Arthur's belongings set on the counter. He then glanced back him, and Arthur started to sweat. The ghost then stepped over to the equipment, and Arthur extended an arm out, as if he were about to stop him. But he hesitated, and slowly brought it down back to his side. He bit his lip as he watched the ghost observe his stuff.

Lewis suddenly grabbed Arthur's communicating device and threw it out of the glass window, which broke upon impact. Arthur felt himself jump at this, and he took a step back in surprise. Lewis turned back to the teen, whom had backed up against the wall.

He felt his hair start to ignite as he narrowed his eye sockets. He said, "I hope you had fun spending all these years acting innocent. Hiding the truth from everyone and preventing others from learning it. You're life is a lie, Arthur. And you took mine."

Arthur bit is lip as he watched the ghost come near him. He wanted to back up a bit more, but remembered he was stuck against a wall. He glanced at the only available exit, which just happened to be behind where Lewis was.

Such luck.

"I-It wasn't my fault, Lewis!" Arthur stuttered as he pressed himself against the wall once more. "I-I didn't mean to kill you!"

"LIES!" Lewis snapped. "You know what you did. You are fully aware that you murdered me, yet you don't admit it. You're a fucking coward!"

"IT WASN'T ME!" Arthur stated, raising his voice a bit. "I-I got possessed! T-That cave w-wasn't normal, I tell you!"

"Even more lies!" Lewis snapped once more, his hair fully lit. "You're such a coward that you can't even admit it without lying!"

"I'm not lying!" Arthur said. "Lewis, just, please listen..."

"Enough of this," Lewis said as he started to crack his knuckles. "I'm just going to bring you the pain and betrayal you brought to me on that fateful night. All the trust I had for you is gone, and I can't bring it back. And if you can't find the urge to tell the truth, then you are not worth it, either."

Arthur's eyes widened as he saw Lewis start to charge at him. He closed his eyes before turning his head to the side, not wanting to see it coming. After a few moments, he felt himself open his eyes and blink in confusion before looking in front of him.

"GOTCHA!"


	6. Chapter 6

Vivi pounced onto Lewis as they both fell to the ground upon impact. The female then pinned him down onto the ground as she sat on his torso, a satisfied smile placed on her lips as she stared down at him. The skeleton's eyes widened as he laid there, a bit unsure of what to do.

Arthur felt himself mentally sigh in relief as he got off the wall and wiped the sweat off from his forehead. Mystery narrowed his eyes as he growled, eyes fixated on the ghost to spot any movements.

Vivi readjusted herself on him as she smirked. She said, "Now let's see who you REALLY are, ghost-man!"

She then removed her hands from his arms as she then clutched his skull. She had to scoot up a bit on his torso in order to reach it, and she had started pulling on it. Instead of grabbing off a mask like all their other mysteries, she ended up coming face-to-face with a real skull, whom was blinking at her in surprise.

Vivi screamed before throwing the skull back at his body and got off of him, scooting over in the corner of the room. Mystery took a defensive step in front of her, continuing to growl at the ghost. Lewis' skull simply returned to where it was and he stood, giving her a rather sympathetic look.

He spoke, "Vivi..."

Arthur ran over to her and helped her up. Mystery continued to stand in front of them, growling at Lewis. Vivi simply stood as her jaw hung open, staring at the ghost in shock.

She stuttered, "Y-You're real..."

Lewis' pink eyes traveled to the ground before glancing back up at her, and he only took a step back. He was fully aware of the dog in front of them that was ready to attack at any given moment, but it didn't worry him in the slightest.

Vivi's stared at the ground for a few moments. She then looked back at him as she asked, "But how!?"

"You didn't think ghosts were real?" Lewis asked, his tone rather quiet. Vivi simply blinked in surprise at him, completely flabbergasted at the situation.

After a few moments of standing there in silence, she asked, "Who are you?"

Lewis narrowed his eye sockets as he looked at Arthur, who backed up against the wall. He asked in a cold tone, "Why don't you ask him?"

Vivi blinked before looking at her friend, whose eyes darted over to hers. She asked, "A-Arthur?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but ended up closing it as he looked at the ground. Mystery started to bark at the ghost, but Lewis didn't flinch. His eyes were locked on Vivi, who was still awaiting for a response from Arthur.

After a few moments, the teen turned to her and stated, "I don't know who he is, V."

Immediately, all the hatred and anger returned to Lewis as he felt his hair ignite once more. He yelled, "LIAR!"

Mystery barked before jumping at Lewis, who simply dodged the dog as he narrowed his eyes at Arthur. Mystery ended up slamming into the wall and whined as he rubbed his paw on his nose. He then narrowed his eyes as he jumped back at Lewis, only to end up completely going through the ghost.

Vivi narrowed her own eyes as she stated, "You're lying, Arthur. I know you're keeping something from me."

Arthur's eyes widened as he glanced at Lewis and back to Vivi. He stuttered, "V-V, I'm not lying! I really don't know who he is!"

Vivi stared into his eyes for a few moments before closing her own. She then turned back to Lewis as she said, "Why are you trying to attack us!? We don't even know you!"

Arthur felt himself sigh in relief, but his heartbeat quickened when he looked back to Lewis. The ghost narrowed his eye sockets even more and his fists were starting to shake in anger. Mystery barked as he continued to jump at the ghost, but only continued to go through him over and over. Lewis eventually got tired of this and pushed the dog aside, turning to face the two teens.

He glared at the two for a few moments before shaking his skull. His fists continued to shake, and both Arthur and Vivi exchanged worried glances. Lewis then looked back at them before starting to run in their direction with a surprising amount of speed. Both of them screamed as they then held onto each other, eyes closed to not see it coming.

But, instead of getting a rather harsh blow from the ghost, they were greeted with a magenta-colored mist circling their bodies. Both of the teens blinked before looking around in confusion. It wasn't long before the mist suddenly disappeared, and they were left to stand in the room in silence. 

Vivi blinked, extending one of her arms outwards so she could feel the purple mist filling the room. It fell on her skin, and disappeared seconds later. She turned to where the ghost once was, but found that he had disappeared. Mystery calmed down once he realized that Lewis was no longer with them and nudged Arthur to get up.

"W-What just happened?" Vivi asked, staring at her arm.

"I dunno', V." Arthur got up from the ground. "I'm just as confused as you are."

"H-How are you calm about this!?" She asked, whipping around on her heel and looking at him. "That was a REAL ghost, Arthur! A-And he tried to attack us!"

"More like he tried to attack me..." He murmured.

"What was that?"

"Look, V, we're both tired and we've been investigating all night," Arthur gave her a serious look. "I think it'd be best if we continued this case tomorrow and got some sleep."

"Yeah." She sighed. "Maybe you're right...."

Noticing the sad tone she gave him, Arthur frowned. He said, "V-"

"There aren't any motels nearby," She interrupted him, making her way to the door. "So we'll sleep in the van. I have plenty of blankets and pillows. Is that alright with you, Arthur?"

Arthur blinked, taken off guard. He stuttered, "U-Uh yeah, V. Sounds great."

"Good." She smiled. "We'll start our investigation tomorrow morning. I'll call the owner and tell him our results for tonight."

With that, she lead them both out of the shack and back into the woods. Arthur rubbed his arm as he followed behind her wordlessly. Every time he looked at his friend, he would feel his chest tighten in guilt. She seemed a bit too happy that they were going back, and it worried him.

Did she know?

\--

He had his chance.

He could have charged into the both of them, pushed Vivi aside, and killed Arthur. He could have. In fact, he was right at the verge to burning all the skin off of that idiot. And why didn't he? He had so many chances by now!

It was obvious why he didn't.

Lewis rested his skull in his hand and leaned forward on the van. He was on top of it again, but that was only for the sake of keeping track of the two. If he left and went back to mansion, who knows when would be the last time he'd get to see Vivi.

The trick he used back there in that shack was....something he improvised. It required just as much energy as it was to burn that idiot's skull out. He basically just teleported, in a sense. He couldn't just kill Arthur in front of Vivi...Despite everything, she cared about him.

Which pretty much just pissed him off more. He was a liar, and a murderer. And that's all he'd be to Lewis now. Things would have been better if he just told Vivi who he was back in that shack. Then he wouldn't have had to come close to hurting them....or her.

The sound of branches cracking followed by footsteps caught his attention. Upon seeing the sight of Arthur and Vivi heading back to the van, he immediately sunk through the ceiling and laid down in the back where they could not see him. He could slightly hear their conversation from afar.

"-him that our equipment broke down. Hopefully he won't pay any less, right?"

"I don't know. Let's just hope so, because I've got some loans I need to pay off."

"You have loans? I wouldn't have imagined THAT, V."

Their voices got closer, and Lewis used the last ounce of his powers to turn invisible. He felt Vivi open the back of the van, which happened to be only a few inches away from him. He backed up a bit and watched her gather blankets, pillows, and flashlights.

Wait. Were they....sleeping in here???

"You get everything, V?" Arthur's voice asked from behind her. She turned around and nodded, closing the doors and making her way to the front of the van. Lewis got up and watched the both of them gather a few things out of the glove department.

"Shit." Arthur murmured. "I forgot my charger back at home..."

"Really?" Vivi asked. "Well...you can use mine, then. You should really come more prepared, Arthur. Your jacket, shoes...and now your charger! What are you gonna' do if I'm not here?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He laughed. "I'll come prepared next time. I promise."

She rolled her eyes, shutting the front door. "You say that every time."

At this, he saw Arthur froze. Lewis' eye sockets narrowed. Of course he'd be surprised at that. He wanted her to forget everything, didn't he?

He heard the sound of Vivi opening the back doors and climbing in. She scooted near his area and started setting up her bed. He felt her body nearly come close to his. She shivered.

"Arthur, did you leave one of the windows open again!?" She asked. "It's cold!"

"I coulda' sworn I shut them all, V! I'll check again!"

At this, Vivi rolled her eyes and flattened out her blankets. Lewis scooted as far from her as he could. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her freeze. To think that he was once warm enough to her that she'd wrap her arms around him at night....

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Arthur and Mystery coming in. Arthur locked the back doors behind him. He said, "They're shut, V. Guess the van's just cold since we left it out here for so long."

Vivi pet Mystery, who was currently laying down beside her on the bed. She said, "That's okay, Arthur. I guess I'll just wear my clothes to bed, then."

Lewis blinked, his eyes fixated on the Mystery. He knew that the dog couldn't sense him, what with his powers being too low, but he was still cautious. It wasn't like he ever attacked him when he was alive, but he certainly did act strange around him earlier...

He could care less, anyway.

"Goodnight, Arthur." Vivi said, taking off her glasses and putting them in a case that she set aside. Arthur slipped on a T-shirt and nodded to her.

"Night, V."

With that, Vivi cuddled into the blankets. Lewis exhaled as quietly as he could and leaned forward to look at her. She slept how she always had; a cuddler. In fact, he actually missed holding her in bed and keeping her warm until she slept. How she'd kiss him every night and say, "I love you, Lew."

The ghost felt a bit of pain in his chest, and quietly laid down on the floor across from them, back turned to Vivi. He glanced at her one last time before going back to facing the wall. If anything, he needed rest as much as they did...

"Goodnight, Vivi."


	7. Chapter 7

"AHHHH!"

Both Arthur and Lewis jolted upwards at the sound of the scream. Lewis turned invisible upon instinct and found that his powers were strong as ever. Vivi was holding a pillow in front of her, scooting backwards until her back was on the wall of the van. Mystery let out a low growl in Lewis' direction.

That's right. The dog could sense him now that he had his powers back.

"What's wrong, V!?" Arthur asked, giving her a worried look. She shook a bit before pointing in front of her.

She exclaimed, "T-The ghost!"

Arthur's eyes widened and he turned to where she was pointing. There was nothing there, and he blinked at her in confusion. Mystery stopped growling and ran to the spot, sniffing around. Arthur turned to her and asked, "Where?"

Vivi fell silent. Her mouth was gaped open in surprise and her hand had a death grip on her pillow. She said, "I-I could have sworn I saw him in here..."

Arthur sighed and scooted towards her. He opened her case and handed Vivi her glasses. She put them on and rubbed her eyes, looking back at the spot. She blinked. "Huh."

"See?" Arthur asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "You were just imagining it, V. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a nightmare after what happened last night."

It took her a few moments to recall what happened last night. She felt in the midst of anger and fear. She damn well knew Arthur was still lying to her, but now that she knew the ghost was real...it changed everything for her. She didn't exactly know what to feel.

Mystery noticed this, and whined as he rubbed against her. She pet the dog with a smile and let him in her lap. He curled into a ball and nuzzled her, exhaling. It didn't take long for the dog to fall asleep again. She giggled and pet him, feeling a lot calmer. Arthur noticed this and took his chance to talk to her.

"I, uh...called the owner last night. He said the pay wouldn't be cut so long as we caught something. We don't have to record anymore because our equipment 'broke'."

To her own surprise, Vivi let out a laugh. "Oh, right! We should check what we caught last night, huh?"

Arthur smiled and nodded, happy as ever to see that Vivi was in a good mood again. He couldn't quite blame her for still being mad at him. He had his chance to tell the truth, but he didn't. The most reasonable thing for her to do was to constantly guilt-trip him enough that he'd tell her everything. But he knew that wouldn't work. He didn't want to die just yet.

Vivi picked up Mystery and set him to the side on her pillow. She rubbed her eyes once more before slipping her shoes on and unlocking the back of the van. Arthur noticed this and grabbed his jacket. He zipped it up before opening the doors and both of them stood outside. They took a moment to admire the morning scenery of the lake.

Dead Man's Lake wouldn't quite be the title for it. It wasn't humid at all, and the lake looked peaceful as ever. A gust of wind would blow here and there, brushing against the branches of the trees and dragging a few leaves with them in their direction. Arthur rubbed his arms and turned to his friend with a smile.

"Bit nippy, don't you think?"

To his surprise, Vivi ignored him and took a step forward. She grabbed the notepad out from her pocket and looked through it. She said, "Arthur, I'm going to need you to gather the cameras that we laid out last night. I'll get the audio logs after."

Arthur nodded and was about to go and do it until he stopped. Vivi noticed he wasn't moving and gave him a look. "What's the matter?"

He turned back to her and hesitated. "It's just....C-Can I bring Mystery with me?"

Vivi blinked at him, but shrugged. "Sure. C'mere, Mystery!"

She turned around to the back of the van and started to pat her legs for him. Immediately, the dog woke up and ran towards her. He jumped into her arms and she giggled. She put the dog on the ground and nudged him towards Arthur.

He said, "Thanks."

"No problem. Just get the cameras, okay?"

He nodded, motioning for Mystery to follow him back into the woods. Vivi yawned and went back inside the van to sit down and go through some of her homework.

\--

Well.

He hadn't been expecting THAT to happen.

Lewis laid on top of the van, still trying to take it in. He meant to only get a couple of hours of sleep to at least give him some juice, but he wasn't expecting to sleep in. Perhaps his insomnia for the past couple of weeks prevented him from getting any rest? It was a surprise to him that he had any power to teleport at all last night.

When he glanced up, he noticed that Arthur was walking away from the van with Mystery by his side. The thought of murdering him didn't come into mind, but rather....disappointment. Why did he have to bring that dog everywhere with him?

Lewis heard some light humming coming from beneath him and he peeked in downwards through the roof. Vivi was laying against a pillow with several packets of papers in her hand. She casually hummed one of her favorite songs while she went through them. He knew what song it was because she always sang it when he was alive.

He sat back up on the roof of the van and rested his skull in his palm. The ghosts must be worried about him back at the mansion because of how long he's been gone. Not that he necessarily cared about them, but they followed his orders and were helpful when it came to things. He could use their help right about now.

But he couldn't go back there. Not just yet, anyway.

\--

"V! I got the cameras!"

Vivi looked up from her book and saw that Arthur was holding up something from afar. She smiled and, setting the book aside, got out of the van with a smile. She said, "Great job, Arthur! And Mystery."

The dog trotted up to her and brushed against her leg. She pet the dog with a smile. He placed the cameras neatly in the back of the van, and exhaled whilst exercising his arm. Vivi took a step forward to observe it.

She asked, "You didn't put too much pressure on it, did you?"

"No." He shook his head. "Don't worry about it, V. Get those audio logs goin' so we can finish this mystery."

Vivi nodded and went to the passenger's seat to get her laptop. She sat in the back of the van, opened it up, and started to get to work playing the camera's recordings and gathering the audio from them. Arthur watched her silently. He had no idea how to maneuver any of those things, nor did he think he'd ever have the smarts to.

\--

It took awhile before Vivi was finished gathering and separating everything. Once she was done, she excitedly turn to a napping Arthur and exclaimed, "I finished!!"

This woke him up in surprise, and he rubbed the back of his metal arm. He said, "Wow...that's great, V."

He was still a bit drowsy. Vivi ignored his as she leaned back and offered him a set of headphones. He looked at in confusion, but grabbed it, nonetheless. He asked, "What's this for?"

"To hear and watch everything!" Vivi said, excitedly scooting over so he could see the laptop screen as well. "You want to know if there's any ghosts, right?"

Arthur, putting the headphones on and biting his lip, shook his head. "No. I really don't."

Despite how many times she's heard that from him in her lifetime, Vivi still laughed. Arthur gulped down his anxiety and leaned forward to watch the videos and listen to all the terrifying sounds he didn't know about. Vivi smiled and readjusted herself constantly, obviously excited to finally watch everything.


	8. Chapter 8

Arthur and Vivi went over the films captured from that night. As expected, they did not catch anything. The only paranormal activity that went on last night was when they encountered the ghost. And, even by then, it was from a different location than at the lake. The owner paid them, nonetheless, and thanked them for their investigation. Vivi and Arthur headed back into town as soon as they split their earnings.

During the ride back, Vivi was awfully silent. It wasn't an odd thing for her because she'd be busy with paperwork or writing things down, but she just sat there and stared out the window the whole ride. Arthur was concerned for her and Mystery was as well. When he reached a stop light, he took the chance to ask.

"Uh, V...?"

Vivi didn't blink nor did she look back at him. Staring out of the window, she asked, "Yeah, Arthur?"

His eyes darted towards her, but back to the road one things started moving again. He took a gulp and asked, "I-Is everything okay?"

"I don't know, Arthur. I just..." She took a breath and rearranged herself on the seat. "I'm still thinking about what happened with that ghost."

Arthur felt something in his chest tighten, which was more than likely his guilt coming back to him. He shook a bit before stuttering, "W-What are you th-thinking about exactly..?"

"A lot of things." She replied, and actually looked back at him this time. "I thought ghosts weren't real, Arthur....and, when he wasn't wearing a mask....it really shocked me. All our mysteries we've revealed some guy who was getting revenge or just wanted to scare people. What exactly is that ghost trying to do?"

Arthur knew exactly the answer to that question. He shrugged it off, though, and continued to shake behind the wheel. He knew Lewis was trying to kill him for what he did, but why hadn't he at this point? He was cornered back at that shack and he could have killed him right at the spot!

Shaking, he looked to the side of the road and asked, "D-Do you want to stop for breakfast, V?"

She slumped in her seat a bit. "Yeah, but go through a drive-thru. I don't feel like eating out today."

Arthur nodded and took a turn so they could get something to eat. Vivi grabbed one of her books out from the glove compartment. He watched her open the cover and started to go over what was inside the book. Finding a good restaurant to stop at, he went through the drive-thru. Taking a look at the menu, he asked, "What do you want, V?"

"Hm?" She looked up. "Oh. Get me a breakfast burrito or something. You know what I like."

He nodded, and ordered a couple of combos. It wasn't often that they'd eat food to-go in the van. Considering what happened with Vivi, though, Arthur couldn't quite blame her for wanting to. Publicity wasn't that enjoyable when you've a lot on your mind. He'd know, too. It wasn't easy shoving all this guilt down his throat. He was in the midst of wanting to tell her, but couldn't because he knew he'd get slaughtered if he did.

After taking some time to eat their breakfast, Arthur started to take the route back home. He didn't attend college, but he knew class for Vivi was tomorrow. The best thing he could do is go with whatever distracted her and hoped for the best. It wouldn't be THAT long until she forgot everything about Lewis again, right?

He glanced over to the book she'd been reading the whole ride. The title was: Paranormal Activity Explained. He refrained the urge to slam his forehead against the wheel. She'd remember him in no time!!

\--

He left them in the midst of the ride.

He didn't quite want to. In fact, he didn't want to at all. His chances of bumping into Vivi and Arthur again were slim. There would be some dumb teens that would stop by the mansion from time to time, but the Mystery Skulls gang was a once-in-a-lifetime thing to happen. He'd know because he was in it.

Lewis levitated across the dirt track he'd been following until a large building came into view. It was then that he finally stood on the ground and walked properly. It was the mansion. He memorized the location of it months after being murdered nearby it. He wouldn't consider it his home, but it was the only place he could return to.

He stepped into the mansion and found some ghosts flying towards him. They didn't attack, but instead started to clean his suit and polish his shoes. They cleaned any dirt off from them and made sure he was as fine as ever. Lewis shoved one out of his way and climbed up the stairs. He didn't fear them at all, for they could do nothing to him. If anything, they were just little servants that came with the mansion. The best they could do is scare the living, while he could kill them.

He made his way down some hallways until taking a turn into the room of his choice. Not like it mattered, because they were all the same. He made his way to the fireplace and burned some of the used wood that had been lying in there. Taking a seat on the chair in front of it, he rested his skull in his hand.

One of the ghosts flew in front of him and caught his attention. He heard, Where were you, Master?

Much like any other ghost, they often communicated through telepathy. He gently moved the ghost out of his sight and replied, None of your business.

Those visitors. One ghost flew nearby his skull. Did you know them?

Lewis felt like punching a wall. They were always so nosy. He held his frustration in, though, and replied. Yes. Is that all?

No! Another one of them went straight into his face. Did you follow them? We were worried! You've been gone for days!

He roughly pushed that one out of his sight. Most of them were polite, but others were a bit too ignorant for his taste. Realizing that they would get no reply, the ghosts huddled around and spoke. Lewis pretended he couldn't hear them, despite the fact that they could. They were just gossiping about him and his disappearance, as expected.

The huddle's whispered died down, and he heard the sound of them flying out of the room. A couple of them stayed beside him, though. They'd move the wood around if the fire went low, or just stayed for the sake of it. He didn't need their protection. He damn well went without them, and they knew it.

Lewis sighed and slumped back in the chair, feeling the dread start to come to him. It was going to be a long night, wasn't it?

\--

"Thanks for the ride, Arthur."

Vivi closed the door behind her and made sure she had everything of hers. Arthur rolled down the window and took a look at her. He'd been nervous the whole ride while she read that thing. Just anything could trigger something about Lewis, and she'd be recollecting everything! He needed assurance that it hadn't come just yet, though.

"D-do you need anything else, Vivi?" He asked.

"No, Arthur. I'm fine." She gave him a smile. "Thank you for worrying about me, though. Have a good night."

She waved goodbye and climbed onto the porch of her house. She took one last look at the van before heading inside, and closing the door behind her. It was then that Arthur finally drove off to his own home. She watched the van's lights go through her windows before disappearing out of sight. The trip back home ended up taking all day, and she felt a bit sick from being in there so long.

She sighed, and set her things down on a table. She'd worry about them in the morning. For now, she needed sleep. Or something to eat. It was pretty hard figuring out priorities when you were so busy all the time. She remembered skipping breakfast a lot the previous week because of her studies.

She walked down a hallway and peeked through a door. The sound of breathing mixed with snoring made her feel relived. At least her parents were asleep. She closed the door and made her way to the kitchen. The best she could do is manage something light and have something in the morning. At least she wouldn't be sick by then.

While searching for something to eat, Vivi saw her laptop sitting on the table in the dining room. She had an extra she left at home, and she'd usually leave it there at night for homework. She grabbed a banana and headed towards it. Taking a bite and pulling the chair out, she turned on the laptop and logged in. Not that she had any homework, but what she really needed was...answers. So many things had happened through the past couple of days that she knew she needed time for them before going back to studying all the time.

Opening up a search engine, she typed up any paranormal subjects that related to the existence of ghosts. She knew they were real now, but how was it possible? It couldn't be in her imagination, because it was the same ghost and Arthur saw him, too! He was physically real, and he really did have powers. There had to be an answer for it!

Although, while reading through many discussion forums and informative articles, she found that the topic was heavily debated. The existence of ghosts relied on belief, experiences, and any knowledge related to paranormal activity. She knew just about everything about it as it is. Why didn't the existence of them didn't have an answer?

Frustrated, Vivi shut down the laptop and closed it. She thew her banana peel away and quickly made her way up the stairs. There was no way she was able to focus at college tomorrow if this was still on her mind. She needed answers. Sitting here and reading through books she'd already been through wasn't going to help!

She grabbed her phone and started to look at the locations that had been marked in there. Their visit to the mansion hadn't been that long ago, and she remembered making a call when they were nearby it. The location of that in her history should lead her back to where it all began.

\--

And there it was.

Not farther than a few yards away, stood the mansion. The same, exact place that she and Arthur stumbled upon when the van broke down. The place where she met...that ghost. It didn't look as joyful or energetic like she last remembered it.

Vivi stepped off the motorcycle and left the helmet she'd been wearing tied on it. She borrowed her father's so she could ride all the way down here. Not like she wouldn't return it, but Vivi didn't have a car just yet. It was out of her expenses because of their lack of good mysteries for the gang. She'd be sure to get one soon, though.

Grabbing a pocketknife she brought just for the sake of safety, Vivi quickly made her way down the dirt trail and towards the gates. She passed the dead trees and peeked over towards the building. It didn't move like it did weeks ago, and she couldn't hear any music coming from it. Staying on her guard, she ran over and peeked through one of the windows.

Not only was it empty in there, but all the lights had been turned on and the doors were left open. From a first glance, it'd look inhabited, but it was really quiet. Where were those ghosts she saw?

Shrugging it off, Vivi looked around before pulling the window up and climbing in. She tried to land as quietly as possible, and closed the window behind her. When she heard a ghost fly into the room, she ran towards the nearest door and hid behind it. She saw the ghost glance towards the window, shrug, and continue flying into another room. When it went nearby her, she shivered.

It was cold. Which meant that it was definitely real.

Shaking it off, Vivi ran down the halls and peeked in every room she passed by. That ghost was much larger and easier to spot than the little, pink ones flying around...She knew that, eventually, she'd find him.

\--

And so she did.

She spent above 5 minutes or so running around the mansion and hiding from the ghosts before she finally saw him. He was in one of the rooms upstairs at the end of the hallway. She thought he'd be flying around and doing ghost things like the others, but instead he just....sat there, staring at the fireplace.

She had a bad feeling about this. He didn't seem much of a threat now, but when he saw her...she was sure he'd do something. She didn't know what, but she was sure it wouldn't be good.

She took a peek at the pocketknife held in her hand. It was smaller than she hoped, and the ghost ended up being a lot bigger than she had hoped. What would happen if he attacked her??? She didn't really have any plans or brought any real weapons! No one knew she was here so they could help her, either.

Still. She needed answers.

Taking a deep breath, Vivi jumped into the doorway and threw the nearest object nearby at him. It just so happened to be a miniature vase, and it broke after hitting the back of the chair. This caught the ghost's attention, but when he turned, Vivi chucked a coat hanger at him.

He ducked, and the hanger ended up breaking everything that rested above the fireplace. When he started to charge at the intruder, he immediately stopped in his tracks. Vivi felt herself hesitate. Fear overtook her, though, and she ended up throwing her pocketknife at him. Which was pretty useless because it went through him and landed on the floor.

He ignored this, though, and looked at her with surprise. He asked, "Vivi?"

Instead of running and embracing him like in those romance movies, Vivi grabbed another vase and threw at him. She grabbed a couple more and threw it nowhere near him just for effect. She yelled, "HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME!?"

He dodged the vase thrown at him, but still had his eyes locked on her. It was as if he was in disbelief and surprise. But how could that be possible!?

He held his arms out, as if he were trying to calm her down. He said. "Vivi-"

"AUGH!"

His eye sockets widened and he stepped out of the way to dodge a music box she threw at him. It landed with a loud THUD on the floor behind him, and the sound of it breaking echoed throughout the mansion. Both of them could hear the sound of ghosts flying towards the scene. When she saw him running towards her, Vivi threw something else at him, but ended up getting pulled back by something.

"H-HEY! LET ME GO!" She struggled. It was then that she realized that a group of the ghosts were dragging her out of the room. The larger one ran out of the room and stopped when he saw them. He narrowed his eyesockets, then looked in their direction.

As if in fear, they then let go of her, letting Vivi land on the floor. She rubbed the back of her head in pain, but backed up once she realized the ghost was walking towards her. She grabbed a part of another nearby coat hanger and held it out towards him threateningly, yelling. "S-STAY BACK!"

The ghost didn't stop. Realizing he wasn't going to listen, she threw it at him. Like everything else, it merely went through him and landed on the floor behind him. She backed up every time he came closer, and it wasn't long before Vivi found herself backed against a wall. She looked around in fear, and realized that there was nothing nearby she could use as a weapon.

Not like it'd help, anyway.

All she could do is just sit there and hide her face in fear. The footsteps came closer and closer. Vivi let out the loudest and most high-pitched scream she could manage, hoping someone heard nearby. Nothing happened, though, and the footsteps stopped. When she peeked out from her arms, she saw the ghost on his knee offering his hand towards her.

He said, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Vivi stared at him for the longest time, in both confusion and terror. She knew she didn't have any other choice, though. There was no escape, and a lot of the ghosts were huddling around them. He didn't seem dangerous, so she took his hand and he helped her to her feet.

Vivi flattened her skirt with her free hand and fixed her hair. When she realized she was still holding his hand, she immediately let go and swatted at his. The ghost took a step back in surprise and she clenched her fists in anger. She narrowed her eyes at him and yelled, "WHO ARE YOU, AND HOW DO YOU KNOW ME!?"

The best the ghost could do was look at her. He asked, "What?"

"Who are you!?" Vivi repeated. "And how do you know my name!?"

There was the longest moment of silence between them. Vivi looked around the room, and noticed that the ghosts were looking in awe between them. She took a fearful step back and looked back at the ghost. He was just staring at her.

"W-Well!?" She asked. "Aren't you gonna' answer!?"

"Vivi," The ghost spoke. "Calm down."

"Why should I!?" She yelled again. "You've been following me and Arthur for three days! Just what are you doing, following us and trying to hurt my friend!? Who are you?"

The ghost stared at her. He asked, "You don't recognize me?"

She paused. She never really did get a good look at him. Taking a look at his full body, she did realize that he resembled someone she knew, but she couldn't remember who. How could that be?

"You do look familiar..." She admitted. "D-Do I know you?"

"More than you can imagine." He replied, and took a step towards her. "What are you doing here?"

Vivi froze once she realized he was heading towards her again. She couldn't take a step back, though, because of the ghosts that surrounded them. She said, "I-I....I needed answers! Aren't you gonna' give me any!?"

"Oh." His eye sockets widened. "Of course."

He looked at ghosts circling them. They stared at him for a second or two until they flew off, away from Vivi. She watched as they took place behind the ghost and peeked at her. Some flew out of the hallway and back to where they were before. When she looked back, she noticed that the ghost was leaning forward and politely held out his hand.

"I am Lewis," He said. "And this is our mansion."


	9. Chapter 9

Vivi felt herself twitch. Not in confusion, anger, or fear. It was out of realization.

Lewis?

The ghost looked at her for a moment or two, then withdrew his hand. Vivi didn't even realize he held it out it in the first place. She was too busy contemplating the familiarity of his name. It felt like she knew it by heart, but she didn't know why. The bare thought of it sent chills down her spine. She looked back at the ghost in awe.

"Lewis?"

When the name slid off her tongue, she could feel butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't have been that scared, could she?....No. She couldn't. That feeling wasn't in fear at all. It wasn't the same butterflies she felt when she hid from the little ghosts, or the fear that struck through her when she was cornered into that wall. No. This was something different.

"Yes?" Lewis asked, eyes locked on her. Vivi felt silent. She didn't know why she asked for his attention in the first place. Maybe she just wanted to say his name?

"Were you...." She started, eyes slowly coming into contact with his. "-Apart of our gang?"

"Yes." He replied. "I was."

The ghost didn't hesitate at all. From what she could tell, he seemed to have all the answers. She wanted to know why the existence of ghosts was possible, but she felt that Lewis had answers that mattered more to her. That they had something to do with the Mystery Skulls team. It couldn't have just been her and Arthur all this time, could it?

Lewis noticed the silence between them. It was more than likely that she was thinking, so he didn't take it in a bad way. Looking to the ghosts, he said. Light the candles downstairs, and make some tea.

What would you like? A ghost levitated beside him. Lewis' eyes darted back to Vivi. She always liked lemon, didn't she? He remembered quite fondly on how she'd ask for it at restaurants. Turning back to the ghost, he gave him his orders and it flew into the direction of the stairs. The feeling of it flying past her made Vivi shiver.

"Come." Lewis spoke, walking down the hallway and motioning for her to follow. Vivi hesitated at first, but made her way slowly behind him. He watched her eye all the paintings they'd pass. Her eyes were lit up more than they previously were. He was sure that, within time, she'd probably have a big grin on her face. She always loved these spooky kinds of things.

"Where are we going?" She asked. Lewis looked back at her and replied:

"Downstairs in the lobby. You can ask me everything you'd like then."

She felt her heart practically leap out of her chest. She was FINALLY getting answers! Maybe all of this confusion would finally leave her life, and she'd have no problems mystery solving anymore! The bare thought of that excited her to no end. Things were going to be normal again.

Lewis led her down the staircase and to said lobby. There were two comfortable couches there, and a fireplace was lit across from them. In the middle was a table, which currently held a tray with teacups. The miniature ghosts were filling it with some hot tea. The scent of it made Vivi feel warm.

One of the ghosts grabbed a cup and offered it to her. She took it and smiled, taking a sip. She recognized the flavor.

"Ooh," She took another sip. "This tastes really good! I love lemon tea!"

"I'm glad you like it." Lewis replied, taking a seat on the couch across from her. One of the ghosts offered a cup to him. He gave it a look. They understood, and scoffed in return. What? I'm trying to be polite!

Lewis rolled his eyes, but took the cup from him. He didn't have time to argue with them now. The best thing he could do was humor them. The ghost had a satisfied smile when he took it, and flew back into the kitchen to fetch some more. Vivi set her empty cup back on the tray.

"So," She said, eyes locking with his. "If you were apart of our crew...what did you do?"

"Well." Lewis pushed away a ghost that tried nibbling on his suit. "I carried our equipment around and took care of anything else that was heavy. I also took good care of the van. I was the one who drove it everywhere."

When she heard the word 'heavy', Vivi let out a gasp. She recalled the memories on discussing with Arthur about that. Neither of them lifted any of the heavy things they did in the past. Could it have been...him? Arthur kept reminding her that they weren't making enough off from Mystery Skulls, and it was because they lacked something. Vivi realized that, now, they weren't missing anything. Just someone. Maybe that was Lewis?

She looked up and saw the surprised look of the ghost. Immediately, she waved her hands in front of her with a nervous smile. She said, "I-I'm sorry! I just remembered something, is all."

Lewis was pretty satisfied with that answer. To him, it meant that she was one step closer to remembering about him. He readjusted himself on the cushions and rested his skull in his hand. Pretty soon, she'd be able to remember everything if this kept going on. He just couldn't push everything to her so suddenly.

Vivi watched the mini ghosts fly back into the room and refill the cups. She gave them another smile and eagerly dove back into the tea, savoring the sweet flavor of it. It was so warm. She must have been freezing from earlier!

"Lewis?" She asked and set down her cup. "How important were you to us? The gang, I mean."

He fell silent for a moment or two. That was one question he had to think about. After a moment's thought, he shrugged. "I can't really say. Because of what happened, I can't assume I was that important."

Vivi gave him a confused look. "After what happened?"

"I think you should ask Arthur that, when you have a chance." He retorted. Vivi felt the tension get a bit heavier upon mentioning him. She narrowed her eyes in thought. Didn't she ask him that before?

"I did," She replied, and looked at him. "But I'm guessing you have a different story?"

"Not different," He replied and crossed his arms. "Just a matter of the truth. What did he tell you?"

"He told me..." She tried to remember his words correctly. "...That nothing happened, he didn't know you, and that everything was okay."

Vivi realized, upon saying it, how ludicrous it was. Why on Earth did she believe something like that!? She wasn't THAT stupid, was she? Clearly, something must have happened for him to lose his arm! Why didn't he want to tell her the real story?

"He wants you to believe that." Lewis replied. "Trust me. It's a bunch of lies. What he said back at that shack was, too."

Vivi held her head in her hands. Normally, she wouldn't believe that and would object to it, but reality was slapping her back in the face. Arthur was a nervous wreck when it came to talking about the past, and he always seemed to hide something from her. It was only when she'd ask about his arm and the gang that he'd hesitate and blurt out different answers to. How could she be so naive?

"You're right." Vivi agreed, and looked back at him. "What REALLY happened?"

That was something he'd been waiting for her to ask for months. As much as he wanted to sit there and tell her that Arthur killed him.....he couldn't. Arthur and Vivi were pretty good friends from what he remembered, so it'd seem like a lie coming out of his mou-...erm...words.

"I can't tell you." He said. "However, I can show you."

With that, he took the beating, blue heart off from the left side of his chest. He nudged it in the air, and it started to levitate towards Vivi. Much like the same night when they first stumbled upon the mansion. Some of the ghosts followed it and stared in awe. When it reached her, it halted in mid-air. Vivi reached up and grabbed it, then gave him an unsure look.

"Open it," He instructed. Vivi looked back at the heart held in her hands. It felt colder than the ghosts did, and the crack lining down the middle of it was pretty sharp. Taking a deep breath in preparation for whatever she was she going to see, she then pressed the opening with her thumb. She felt it slid open, but could not look inside it because a flash of pink blinded her eyes. Everything turned white.

\--

Three teens and one dog sped down the road in the Mystery Skulls van. In the front sat Mystery, accompanied by Vivi in the middle, and a purple figure in the driver's seat. Arthur was set in the back and stared out the window with an upset look. Why was he sad? And who was the guy next to her?

The van made a stop in front of the cave. Vivi recognized it, and watched the three get out of the van and let Arthur out in the back. His body was shaking and he looked around in fear. He didn't seem any different than he was now. Mystery trotted happily next to herself and the other figure, whom she assumed to be Lewis. The three of them entered the cave, Lewis and Vivi entered the cave, holding hands, and Arthur followed behind them. Why did they hold hands?

It was dark. She watched Lewis grab a torch off from the wall and lead the gang forward. She was happy, Lewis was in awe, and Arthur was scared of his wits. He held onto Lewis in the midst of panic, and they reached a fork in the road. Lewis went along with Arthur, and Vivi told Mystery to follow her. He watched the other two walk uphill with hesitation. Why did Mystery not follow her?

She went deeper into the caverns, blindly looking around and thinking Mystery was following her. She remained down there to observe it, and Arthur was following Lewis closely on the upper level. Torch held in his hand, he noticed the path ended on a hill that out looked the rest of the cave. He stood on the edge to see the depths of the cavern, and the Arthur walked in closely behind him, arm extended outwards. What was he doing?

A quick flash, and Lewis was falling from the edge. He headed down to the stalagmites erected upwards from the cavern. He landed and was followed by the sound of his clothes being shred, bones pierced, and torch dropped. Something else in the distance fell, too. What was it?

Words flashed through her mind.  
Lewis.  
Together.  
He saw.  
He killed.  
His arm.

\--

A sharp gasp escaped her throat. The room was silent. The only thing she could hear was the sound of the heart closing in her hand. Her eyes looked to the capsule, but she could not move. It took a moment of regaining her control in order for her to breathe. And, when she did, tears started to stream down her face.

Lewis got out from his chair and slowly made his way towards her. None of the ghosts moved from their place. He got on his knee and gave her a look of concern, giving her as much space as he could. When he saw her start to shake, he asked, "Vivi?"

"L...Lewis...."

She dropped the heart and hid her face in her hands, sobbing. It didn't land on the floor, but instead returned to Lewis' chest in its regular place. The ghosts started to levitate towards her in worry. Lewis sharply turned to them and thought. Give her some space.

They backed off. He turned to her and saw that she removed her hands. Tears were still falling, and her glasses were fogged up. Her body was still shaking. Her eyes met with his and she inhaled sharply. She opened her mouth to say something, but ended up choking instead and hid her face again. Lewis was about to comfort her before she suddenly jumped into his arms and knocked him on the floor.

Vivi laid on top of him with her head on the carpet next to his skull. His hands were extended outwards in surprise, and he could feel her shaking on his chest. Some of the ghosts were staring at them in surprise from the ceiling. She choked. "Y-You're...a-alive..."

Lewis realized what was happening. He placed an arm on her back for comfort, and shooed away the ghosts that were above them. Vivi held him tighter and let out a few more sobs. He could have sworn he felt his heart crack even more when he felt her tears drip onto his suit. He placed a supportive hand on the back of her head before sitting upwards and setting her onto his lap. She buried her face into his chest and held him tighter.

It was a shame that was he dead. Otherwise, he'd be crying with her and would actually feel warm in her touch. So he sat there and held her instead, listening to her weeping and keeping her close to him. It seemed as if forever until the tears started to dry and her sobs died down. When he looked at her, she was staring at the carpet in silence.

He asked, "Vivi?

She looked at him, eyes still red and puffy from crying. She asked, "Y-Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

He could feel her grip on him loosen a bit. She sat back and wiped her nose, staring at the floor. She replied. "Yeah. I think so..."

Lewis wiped the tears off from her cheeks and she looked up at him. There was a moment of silence between them as they took in the sight of the each other. He hadn't seen her like in this in awhile. She didn't cry that often when he was alive, but he always there to comfort her whenever she did. He was used to seeing her so happy and carefree. It pained him to see her like this again.

"Lewis?" She asked. "H.....How are you alive?"

He felt her hand come into his, and he softly gripped it. He caressed it with his thumb. He said, "I'm not, really. Things went black for awhile, and then I woke up here. I've been like this ever since."

Vivi looked down at their hands and gripped his tighter. It was comforting to feel him with her again. How on Earth could she forget him? He was a big part of her life. Maybe his sudden death is what caused her to have amnesia? And, if that was the case, how come no one wanted to tell her? Why didn't Arthur?

"Well," She said, closing her eyes for a moment and choking back tears. "I....I'm glad...you're...s-still h-here..."

She felt his thumb wipe the tears from her eyes. She looked up at him and saw the most caring and sympathetic look anyone has given her for a long time. A whole mix of emotions filled her, and she wasn't sure what to focus on at that point. But did any of it really matter? Lewis was here, and that's all she needed.

Holding him as tight as she could, she closed her eyes and said. "I love you, Lew Lew."

Lewis froze when he felt her hold him and hear those words again. It seemed like an eternity since he's heard them. Wrapping his arms around her and resting his skull on her head, he replied. "I love you, too, Vivi."


	10. Chapter 10

"This is baaaaaad....."

Arthur paced around in his kitchen in distress. His hands were clutching at his hair and his body shook. Mystery was sitting on one of the chairs at the table and watching him. He had been doing this for the past couple of hours. Vivi hadn't shown up that day for school and she didn't return any of his calls. Her parents claimed to not have seen her from last night, and he couldn't find her anywhere! He checked everywhere he thought she could be.

How on Earth could she have disappeared overnight!? All he knew was that her father's motorcycle was missing. It could have only meant that she'd taken it somewhere. But where would she wanna go besides school and the library??? Especially at night!? It didn't make any sense!

Arthur ran over to his fridge and grabbed a tub of ice cream. Taking a seat next to Mystery, he started to pile scoops into his mouth. It was the only comfort food he had, and his stress was piling up by the second. If he didn't calm down now, he was sure to call the police and have them run a search party. And he was too anxious to talk to any authorities!

Swallowing down his last scoop, he set his spoon aside and laid his head down on the table. The brain freeze should come any minute now. Mystery whined and pawed at him. He just laid there and took it like the pile of trash he was. When he bothered to look up, Mystery nudged him towards the left.

Arthur glanced in that direction and noticed it was the door to the garage. He looked back and gave Mystery a look. The dog simply jumped out of his chair and clawed at the door. Arthur put the lid back on the tub of ice cream and set back in the fridge. He was prepared to listen to anything and anyone. Even if it meant following his own dog.

He opened the garage door and Mystery ran in. He headed towards the shelves of boxes Arthur had piled in there and started sniffing around. When he found one that he was searching for, he bit the top and dragged it out. Arthur walked over and checked was inside. The contents made his heart stop and the sweat start to pour from his forehead.

Lewis' belongings.

Truth was, he kept everything he could find of Lewis and hid it in his garage just to make sure Vivi wouldn't remember him. He couldn't remember how long they'd been in there, but it must have been awhile. An empty space was in the middle of the box, and around it was pictures and such. Something was missing. Too bad he didn't remember what it was...

He looked at Mystery. The dog kept looking back to the box, which meant that it had something to do with Lewis. He felt the panic return to him and his body shook again. Could he have taken her??? Or did Vivi suddenly remember about him and left??? May be he came last night and killed her!! O-Or maybe something else took her?

None of what he was thinking was good. Putting the shirt down, Arthur ran into the living room and grabbed the van's keys. He needed to find Vivi.

\-- 

"Let me guess....you can fly?"

"Yes."

"Teleport?"

"Sort of."

"Walk through walls?"

"Yes."

"Communicate with other ghosts?"

"They never bother."

A giggle escaped Vivi's throat, and she nuzzled on his chest. Lewis brushed a strand of her hair out from her eyes. It took her awhile to get over what happened last night. Recollecting her memories must have made her grieve over his death again. He didn't think she would take the whole night to understand that he was there again and all that stuff really happened.

Vivi had insisted on sleeping with him that night, so he told the ghosts to fetch them some blankets and pillows. They ended up sleeping on the same couch they talked on last night. She didn't let go of him for one second while they slept. It was almost as if she was scared of losing him again. Which was ridiculous because she should have known that he wouldn't leave her. Hell, even after his death he missed her.

Vivi pet one of the miniature ghosts that flew by. They stopped in their tracks and levitated downwards to cup their head in her hand. Noticing that she was giving them attention again, some of the other ghosts started to fly towards the two. Before she knew it, Vivi had around 10 little ghosts in front of her making transparent purring noises.

She asked, "Lewis?"

"Yes?" He replied, pushing away the other ghosts around them that craved attention.

"Do any of these little guys have names?"

"Well-" He shoved a few away. "No. I've asked. None of them can remember their name."

"Well, then, I'll name them!" Vivi exclaimed. The ghosts waved their tails energetically and started panting like dogs. Many of the others ghosts flew into the room when they heard that she was going to name them. Seeing the room getting the crowded with these little, pink monsters, Lewis backed up in surprise. He protested. "Vivi-"

"This one's Itsy Bitsy." She booped the nose of the one, and turned to another. "You'll be Elliot, this one will be Theo, your buddy here will be Dusty...You! I've seen you nibbling on Lew Lew's suit! So, you'll be Nibbler, this one will be Clod, you'll be Dusty, and you'll be Bitty. Your friend here will be Piper, you'll be Theo..."

When he saw Vivi go around and naming each one she saw, Lewis sighed. As cute as his girlfriend was, she tended to be too sweet at times. Now that she was giving them names, they'll start to think that he LIKES them......

\--

BUMP!

Mystery whined and rubbed the tip of head in pain. When Arthur sped through another bump, he was jolted to the side and held onto the car door. The teen took a sharp turn, which threw Mystery onto his lap. It was then that he finally pulled over and stopped. He took a look at the dog and asked, "You okay?"

Mystery off his lap and glared at him. Arthur gave him a sheepish smile in return, shrugging. "S-Sorry! I'm just trying to f-find Vivi. I think I took a wrong turn somewhere..."

Mystery jumped off from his lap and sat back in the passenger's seat. Arthur held his head in frustration on the steering wheel. His eyes were bloodshot and his clothes were stained with sweat. How on Earth did he think he'd find that mansion again??? They only stumbled upon it last time by accident! It'd take some miracle to find it again.

When he glanced over to Mystery, an idea suddenly popped in his head. Reaching behind his seat and grabbing one of her backup sweaters, he held it out to the dog. When Mystery cocked his head at him, he asked, "Wanna help me find her, boy?"

At this, Mystery's tail wagged repetitively. He dug his nose into the sweater and, once he caught her scent, pawed at the car door. Arthur clicked Mystery's leash onto his collar and let the both of them out. Time to find her.

\--

"Who's a good lil' ghostie? You are! Yes, you are! Who's such a cutie?"

One of the miniature ghosts levitated in front of Vivi and purred in her touch. Lewis was sitting on one of the nearby chairs with his arms crossed. After she was done naming the 100 ghosts in the mansion, she took the time to play with them as well. He thought for sure that she would want to talk with him more about the past and such, but none of it seemed to bother her. She was in a state of happiness and ease. Which was enough for him, really.

The ghost, or "Theo", glanced in his direction with a smug smirk. He communicated, Jealous?

Keep buttering it up and you'll have your heart ripped off from your body. Lewis threatened.

The ghost's eyes widened in fear and, taking a last glance at Vivi, flew off. Vivi stood there in confusion for a moment or two before shrugging it off and running back to Lewis. Once she reached him, she gave him another hug. The skeleton wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her shoulder. He'd never get tired of them.

"Lew Lew?"

"Yes, Vivi?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

When he looked over at her, he noticed the puppy eyes she used to give him when he was alive. She only used it if she were hungry, lonely, or really wanted something. In these circumstances, he'd figure that it was all three. He replied, "What would you like?"

"Can you make me a sandwich?"

Lewis let out a sigh. This definitely was his girlfriend. Although, it did occur to them that she hadn't had anything to eat since last night. And, even by then, it was more of a snack than a meal. He nodded. Vivi kissed his skull and got off of his lap so he could go make it. He fetched a couple of ghosts with him before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving Vivi alone in the room.

She walked over to one of the bookshelves laid in the room and started to browse through it. They must be pretty old because some of them were dated back to the 60's and 70's. She thought for sure that it'd be all dusty with cobwebs, but they were neatly organized and very clean. It was too much of a disappointment for her because this place would look tons of times more spooky if it looked old.

The ghosts must be taking care of these, She thought and browsed through a book. They're doing a good job.

BAM!

The book flew out from her hands when she heard the sudden noise. Vivi quickly picked up and set it back on the shelf(probably out of order), then headed downstairs where the noise came from. She stopped in the middle of the staircase once she saw who it was.

Arthur.

He was looking around in the mix of determination and panic. Mystery was by his side, sniffing everything in sight. It looked like Arthur was about to yell a handful at someone. Apparently whatever he planned on doing backfired because he just stood there and looked around like he was lost. Climbing down the rest of the stairs, Vivi asked. "...Arthur?"

He whipped his head around and, once he saw Vivi, started running towards her. When he reached his friend, he gave her the biggest hug he could manage and took a step back. Mystery's tail wagged and he licked the bottom of her stocking. She readjusted her glasses and blinked at Arthur.

"...What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you!" He exclaimed, a dumb grim spread on his face. "You've been gone for a day, V! We were worried!"

"Is that so?" She asked and leaned down to pet Mystery. His tail wagged some more and he scooted closer to her. She could definitely tell that he missed her. Once she realized the situation, she withdrew her hand from Mystery and glared at Arthur. He gave her a confused look.

"....What? Did I say something wrong?"

"ARTHUR!" She yelled, a dramatic mood swing kicking in. She crossed her arms and glared some more daggers at him when he gave her a dumb look in return. She asked, "Care to explain yourself?"

He rubbed the back of his head. None of what she was saying made sense! He looked down at Mystery for help, but the dog merely shrugged. He gulped down his nervousness and turned back to Vivi. He asked, "....Explain what, V?"

"Why you killed Lewis!" She yelled again. "And why didn't you tell me!?"

His brown eyes widened in surprise. Shit. She remembered everything! How was he going to cover this up now?

"I-I..." He looked around, wondering if the ghost was anywhere near. He came for Vivi, but he didn't want to end up dead for the price. He stuttered, "D-Don't know what you're t-talking about, Vivi..."

"Of course you do!" She stomped her foot. "You know, I can see why Lewis called you a liar. You're not good at bluffing, Arthur."

"I-I'm not bluffing!" He snapped and felt a bead of sweat drop from his forehead. Vivi seemed to notice this and crossed her arms, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. When he looked at Mystery again for help, he noticed that the dog was giving him the same look. Arthur narrowed his eyes, as if to say: 'You're not helping.'

Sighing, he turned back to his friend. He said, "Okay, I-"

"Vivi?"

The two of them turned around and noticed that Lewis standing in the doorway. He held a plate that carried an 18-inch long sandwich, ingredients placed at random. The way Vivi usually liked it. She smiled at the sight of him and ran over to give him a hug. Arthur backed away nervously. He couldn't help but shake while he did so.

Lewis hugged her back with one arm and placed the sandwich aside. He turned to glare at Arthur. He asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I...I..." Tears came out of his eyes in fear. He gulped and said, "W-was l...looking...for Vivi..."

"Well, I'm right here, Arthur." Vivi remarked and turned back to him. "What did you want, exactly?"

"T-to..." He sniffled. "M-Make sure y-you're okay? I'm sorry, V....I'm so sorry..."

He placed his hands in front of his eye to hide the tears that were starting to pour out, and laid there on the floor. Mystery whined and pawed at him, but he only rolled in the other direction and sobbed. Vivi gave a sympathetic look to Lewis, but he too busy glaring at him and starting to summon fire. She smacked his hand. He winced and rubbed it in pain.

"Arthur..." She walked over and kneeled down beside him. "It's okay. Why did you keep it from me, though?"

"I-It wasn't my fault, V!" He said and sat up. "I was possessed! That cave wasn't normal. When Lewis was there in front of me, I felt half of my body turn cold and I couldn't control it!"

"Is that the truth?" She asked nonchalantly. Arthur nodded. Vivi sighed and patted his head, standing back up and walking back to her boyfriend. Mystery licked Arthur's face to comfort him. It didn't work because he was still crying and shaking because of the sight of Lewis. He looked like he was about to charge at him any second!

"I think you owe someone an apology, Arthur." Vivi said, placing a hand on Lewis' chest in concern. Arthur looked over and noticed the pissed expression the ghost wore. Immediately, he backed away and started crying again. Vivi smacked Lewis' hand again, and he gave her a look.

"What?"

"Both of you, make up. Glaring at him isn't going to help resolve this."

"Weren't you doing that a moment ago, though?"

Vivi pointed towards the shaking, crying figure on the floor. Lewis sighed and walked past her until he reached Arthur. Mystery started to growl, but realized what was going on. The dog stepped out of the way and brushed against Lewis sympathetically. Despite it all, that dog always knew what was going on. He probably remembered Lewis' death more than anyone else did.

Arthur kept laying there and crying. Lewis turned back to Vivi with a 'what do you want me to do?' look, which only resulted in impatient taps of the foot. He leaned down until he could reach Arthur's level(the price it pays to be tall). When he did, he asked, "Arthur?"

The teen froze in fear. Slowly, he started to turn around. A feeling of relief came through him when he saw the calm, sad look the ghost was giving him. Arthur wiped a tear from his face, sniffled some more, and shook. He said, "I-I'm really s-sorry, Lewis..."

Lewis went to say something, but turned silent. He couldn't forgive him. He knew that Arthur probably deserved it and it'd resolve everything, but he couldn't. The scar remained on them both for this long, and it will stay there for awhile. At least until he could get over it. You can't exactly quite forgive someone who pushed you off a cliff and into stalagmites that caused your death. Instead, he offered his hand towards him.

Arthur stared at it for a moment or two before looking back at Lewis. He gave him an approaching look, which got the teen to place his hand in his and shake it. Lewis could feel the sweat, coldness of his skin, and that he was still shaking. If only he could increase his grip to the point of breaking Arthur's carpals.....

"F....friends?" Arthur gave him a nervous grin. Lewis gave him a firm nod as well a shake. He replied, "Friends. For now."

He felt Vivi hit his back. He rolled his eyes in his sockets and sighed. He said, "Friends."

The two of them stopped shaking hands and Lewis got back on his feet. Arthur kept petting Mystery to calm him down and remained there on the floor. Vivi gave Lewis a hug and thanked him for making up. There were a few more things they needed to do, but this was a good start. For the Mystery Skulls gang, anyway. She felt that a good future was awaiting them.

"Lewis?"

He turned back to Arthur. The teen rubbed the back of his head and avoided eye contact. He asked, "Y-you wanna j-join the gang a-again...?"

At this, Vivi's eyes lit up and she started jumping in front of him excitedly. Lewis took a moment to contemplate about it. He didn't really need to because he already knew what he was going to say. He just wanted to show Arthur that he wasn't fully comfortable with him. After a moment's thought, he said. "Yes. I will."

"YAY!" Vivi jumped up and hugged him. She ran over and picked Arthur off from the floor, dragging him over to Lewis. Mystery followed after them, wondering what she was planning to do. Once they were all close enough, Vivi wrapped her arms around the two for a group hug.

She said, "The Mystery Skulls gang is back again!"

Arthur felt his heartbeat blast through his chest once he realized how close he was to Lewis. He could feel the heat radiating off from his fire-consisting hair. If he stayed there a moment longer, he was sure he'd get burnt to a crisp. He got himself out of the group hug and gave her a grin. 

"I parked the van not too far from here. You guys wanna' get going?"

Mystery nodded and wagged his tail some more. Vivi smiled and looked at Lewis, who gave her a 'why not?' shrug. She turned back to Arthur and exclaimed, "We're ready!"

So, the three walked down the hallways until he could see the front door. Vivi had her arms wrapped around them, and Mystery happily trotted behind. Arthur looked at Vivi quizzically. He asked, "You sure you're alright with all of this, V? Everything that's happened?"

"Of course I am!" They walked through the front of door and onto the dirt trail before them. "I understand everything, now."

 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support, guys!!


End file.
